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drwcn · 3 years

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follow up to [post] exploring the crack au if lwj was a girl

〒▽〒 ps im not trying to erase canon lwj representation, not at all, wangxian is mm in all my other fics, this is just stupid fun

in a ceteris paribus situation aka all other things staying equal:

1) Lan Wangji 100% still has a resting bitch face, which probably would get her a couple of “Lan-er-guniang 美若天仙 (beautiful as an immortal/goddess) but would benefit from smiling more” comments but nobody is that desperate to die yet so, she’s spared. But damn... imagine the sheer number of thirsty boys who’d try to secure a marriage with LWJ. None of them is good enough for Wangji as far as Lan Xichen is concerned. Okay - maybe in Lan Xichen’s opinion, Nie Mingjue is good enough, but he couldn’t be less interested. I see her as I see Huaisang, Xichen please.

2) Everything interaction between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in Wei Wuxian’s first life is now 500% more scandalous.

Exhibit A) Their first meeting at the gates; Jiang Cheng immediately felt his spidey senses tingling. —“You’d sooner have immortals flying out of your ass than get with someone like her. The second jade of Gusu? The pearl in old man Lan’s eyes? C’mon.” —“Shut up, A-Cheng.” —“Uh-huh.” —“Also, she’s not that pretty. Her brother Zewu-jun is much better. There’s a reason he’s ranked first.” WWX is still a disaster bi. — “LMAO, you? Zewu-jun? Please.”

Exhibit B) Just because LWJ is a girl does not mean WWX grew more brain cells.

WWX, straight up to Lan Qiren’s face, “Lan-meimei and I - we’re zhiji.” (he means it like we’re kindred spirits, peas of a pod, etc) LWJ: *does not deny* Lan Xichen: ⚆_⚆ Lan Qiren: ಠ╭╮ಠ

Exhibit C) Lan Wangji getting drunk the first time. Wei Wuxian knew he crossed a line the minute he invited Lan-er-guniang for a drink. Really, WWX, even for you, this is inappropriate. When Lan Wangji fell face first onto the table, Wei Wuxian knew, he fucked up. “Hey....hey...Lan....Lan...-er-guniang,” He poked her. “Don’t...don’t sleep here! You can’t sleep here! If your Uncle finds out or if Jiang-shushu finds out...they’ll skin me alive and then...and then they’ll make me marry you! I don’t want to marry you; you don’t talk and I’m too young!”

WWX, being a dipshit, “Hey Lan Zhan, call me Wei-gege.” LWJ, drunk as fuck, “Wei..gege.” WWX *((( heart )))* ???

Exhibit D) The Cold Pond. Okay, so I don’t think Zewu-jun would sabotage his sister’s virtue by sending a stupid teenage boy her way while she’s bathing, but doesn’t mean Su She is above all that. Wei “I didn’t see anything I swear!” Wuxian. Lan “I will gouge out your eyes.” Wangji. Somehow they still end up in the cave. Maybe WWX got in the water after LWJ got out and got sucked into the vortex and LWJ heard the commotion, turned around, saw WWX had disappeared. “Wei Ying?!” A panicked LWJ jumps back into the pond, “Stop fooling around, come out!”

Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing 👀👀 when LWJ and WWX fall out of the cave together. Also the fact that Lan-er-guniang and Wei-gongzi went missing, together, for two days. Who knows what could’ve happened. I mean anything really. I mean... that’s gotta stir the pot a little were it not for the Yin Iron stealing everyone’s attention away from this bit of juicy scandal.

Oh the whole story... so much to work with, so little time.

3) Because Lan Wangji is a girl, now suddenly there’s a high ranking member of the Lan Clan who can host the girls at Cloud Recesses. I mean, Mianmian, Jiang Yanli, Wen Qing, Lan Wangji - SISTERLY FRIENDSHIP. Other than Mianmian, none of the girls are really talkers which suits Lan Wangji perfectly. Even Mianmian’s chatter is endearing.

4) Lan Wangji is absolutely still a powerhouse during the Sunshot Campaign. The inherent aesthetics of fem!lwj telling the Wen goons to “kneel” - no one will deprive me of this. Also she will still cut off your arm if you cross her - Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao ya better watch out still.

I am TORN between two options: Lan Wangji tol and kickass or Lan Wangji smol and kickass. On one hand, the aesthetics of willowy elf-like LWJ, on the other hand, 5′2′’ of whoop ass who can and will throw an unconscious wwx over her shoulder firewoman-style and toll him to safety.

And amongst other things:

A) Lan Wangji still becomes Chief Cultivator, because excuse me who else is left to clean up this mess? Jiang “Short-fuse” Wanyin? Nie “I won’t do what I’m not intended to do” Huaisang? Jin “13 year-old” Ling? Or Sect Leader Yao? Technically, being a woman means that she was never Lan Xichen’s heir, but at the end of it, it’s not like Gusu Lan is left with a lot of choices. Just the poetic justice of Gusu Lan pleading for Lan Wangji to come back when she fully intends to 隐居山野 (retreat into the mountains) with the resurrected WWX.

Lan Wangji being Chief Cultivator would echo Lan Yi’s tenure and rectify the fact that Gusu Lan’s only female head of family “failed”. Lan Yi had to face a mountain of prejudice because she was woman; someone has to say “up yours” to that. A woman as not only the sect master of Gusu Lan but the Chief Cultivator? Love that for Gusu Lans. (⌐■_■) ☞ ☞

B) Because of ~ sexism ~ I wonder if Lan Wangji would get titled “Hanguang” at all even after the Sunshot Campaign. Even Lan Yi, the SL Lan of her time didn’t have a title. Chances are LWJ won’t either. (Note: Violet Spider is not a title, it’s a moniker). So — say after the way Lan Wangji is still just “Lan-er-guniang”, and she does not obtain the title “Han Guang” until after she leaves Cloud Recesses and become rogue. (srsly how did they come up with these titles in canon, did gusu lan just look at 21 year old lwj and be like yah he’s lord light bearer *cue trevor noah stand up joke* why do you call yourself “great” britain? isn’t that a bit presumptuous? shouldn’t you go around doing good things and then let other people come to the conclusion: oh britain look how great you are? same logic with lwj.)

Lan Wangji, a Jade of Gusu or a nameless rogue, still goes where trouble is, helping those who need it. After laying low for a year or two to heal, Lan Wangji began night hunting. Donned neck to ankle in white silk and tulle, and a weimao (wide brimmed veil hat) obscuring her face, she became known to the people as Hanguang Sanren, the lightbearing wanderer. Gusu’s highest power probably has some idea who she is - or at least they can guess - but the vast majority of people don’t.

C) Lan Sizhui raised by rogue Lan Wangji as his mum would be different. Still cultured, respectful, but definitely with an air of keeping others at arm’s length.

For instance, grown-up Sizhui running interference and saving a cohort of gentry disciples on joint hunts.

Jingyi: 这人谁呀？Who is this guy? Zizhen: 多谢兄台搭救之恩，小可看您眼生，敢问兄台尊姓大名，何门何派，改日当登门拜访. Many thanks for saving us. I don’t believe we’ve met, pray tell what is your name and sect, so we may visit at a later time to thank you for tonight. Sizhui: 在下无门无姓，单名思追。举手之劳不足挂齿，怎敢劳烦各位名门子弟答谢。My name is Sizhui, belonging to no family and to no sect. As for tonight - I only did what anyone would; it bears no mentioning and requires no thanks. Jin Ling: 你这人，看你工力不凡，想和你交个朋友，可你怎么遮遮掩掩的。Hey you, we see you’re a talented cultivator and want to make your acquaintance. Why are you so dodge-y? Zizhen：金陵 — Jing Ling - Sizhui: 若是有缘，还会相见。告辞。If it’s fated, we will meet again. Farewell.

Later: Jingyi: 思。追。思追谁？Si. Zhui. To recollect and long for whom? Sizhui: 母亲的一位故人. Someone from Mother’s past. Jingyi: 你父亲？...Your father? Sizhui: 我不知。I don’t know.

I thought about how cute it would be if sizhui and jin ling knew each other but guys...Jiang Cheng literally thinks he killed Sizhui’s biological father. Like he literally thinks he orphaned Sizhui before Sizhui is even born. And Lan Wangji would never accept anything from Jiang Wanyin, not that it would stop Jiang Wanyin from trying.

A package of books here, a new robe for Sizhui there. Lan Wangji doesn’t know how Jiang Cheng keeps finding her. She and Sizhui are nomadic.

D) The inevitable conversation after wwx is revived.

You know what would be funnier than Jiang Cheng thinking Sizhui is a wangxian baby is if Lan Qiren thinks Sizhui is a wangxian baby.

#cql #the untamed #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lmao what is this #cql ficlet #corie fics #lwj fic #f!lwj

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eleanorfenyxwrites · 3 years

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Where We've Been (Ao3)

My friend @megachewbecca requested something set post-canon between Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng in which they talk about "why they have decided to channel all their disappointments with themselves into each other". I don't think it came out exactly like that but they do still have a conversation about Stuff!

[Masterpost]

“Oh great,” Jiang Cheng snaps with as much venom as he can muster - the type that typically sends his intended target scrambling for cover, and/or has his disciples watching on in undisguised glee for whatever verbal flaying is about to begin.

However, said venom is only occasionally directed at his current target (though it’s happening increasingly often simply through an increase in exposure to each other due to certain Wei Wuxian-shaped influences). In all the times that it has been, however, he’s only ever received the same style of response.

“.....Mn.”

Jiang Cheng’s eye twitches and he refuses to acknowledge the headache already starting in his left temple.

“Don’t fucking start with that. I know you talk.”

Of all the people to be magically trapped in a cave with, Lan Wangji is absolutely without a doubt at the very bottom of his list. Below a fierce corpse, even, because then at least he’d have something to take his frustration out on. But no, he’s stuck with Lan fucking Wangji, because the universe is cruel like that. And this mere days after he had promised Wei Wuxian he would do his best to be more civil to Lan Wangji even though it was the so-great, so-wonderful, so-righteous Hanguang-jun who had a problem with him.

At the risk of sounding childish - he started it!

He walks a quick perimeter around the cave, trailing his hand along the wall to feel for any openings he could possibly miss in the uncertain light of the fire talisman in Lan Wangji’s hand. He’s nearly back to where he began when he feels a breath of moving air and he quickly moves towards it only for his entire arm to sink into what looks like solid rock. He yelps and jerks his arm back from whatever emptiness is on the other side of the illusion and then starts again when Lan Wangji is suddenly at his side between one breath and the next, utterly silent.

Jiang Cheng shifts away from both him and the wall as Lan Wangji steps closer to raise his free hand, pressing it forward until his hand sinks into the ‘rock’ just as Jiang Cheng’s had. He glances at Lan Wangji only to find his expression as impassive as ever from what he can tell, and he’s just opening his mouth to ask what he’s thinking when he suddenly just. Steps forward. Straight into the wall.

“Hey!”

Before he can think better of it, Jiang Cheng stumbles after him, disoriented in the sudden dark and then again by the sensation of pressure and cold closing in on him on all sides. The claustrophobia hits hard and fast as he takes another stumbling step forward - to be caught by a shockingly sturdy grip at his elbow.

“Careful,” Lan Wangji intones, holding the talisman a little higher as he looks around and Jiang Cheng shoves his hand away to straighten himself out, cheeks burning.

“Is it really such a good idea to go wandering around strange magic caves?” he grouses to the unmoving pillar of Lan Wangji’s back. His stupidly tall guan is poking up above his head and Jiang Cheng is seized suddenly with the childish urge to throw something at it - nothing big, just a pebble or something. Just to see if he can hit the point of it from behind. Just to see if he can make the perfect Lan Wangji do something besides walk around looking all...stately.

He absolutely refuses to acknowledge that it was similar desires that had motivated Wei Wuxian to tease and taunt his future husband in their teenage years - this is extremely different.

“We have wandered dangerous places before,” Lan Wangji replies smoothly and the full sentence is genuinely shocking. Jiang Cheng tries to remember the last time Lan Wangji had said a full sentence to him and he comes up blank. For years it’s been nothing but monosyllabic words, one of his plethora of hums, or one of his little duckling-esque juniors covering his ass and talking for him (as if Jiang Cheng can’t understand when he’s being snubbed with or without their ‘translating’).

In the surprise of being spoken to at all, it takes Jiang Cheng an extra beat or two to realize what he’d actually said, and when he does it brings him up short. He knows precisely what he’s referring to, of course, but his mouth quicker than his brain and all he can manage to do is croak a hoarse,

“What?”

Lan Wangji turns back to look at him, face inscrutable in the flicker of the fire talisman, though his eyes are, as always, sharp and keen.

“It was once our common goal to find Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji replies smoothly. “We faced dangers during our search, including Wei Ying himself when we found him.”

“He wasn’t -”

“Dangerous? Hm.” Jiang Cheng can’t help but scowl at the obvious skepticism in that fucking hum. He’ll never understand how Wei Wuxian finds Lan Wangji’s hums endearing (which he has said on far too many occasions) rather than absolutely infuriating.

“He wouldn’t have hurt us!”

“Debatable. He was barely himself, and he did not know we were present at first. It was possible we would be harmed.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t have a good reply to that so he doesn’t bother trying to find one, he simply starts walking and tries not to hate that Lan Wangji doesn’t even miss a beat as he falls into step beside him, still obnoxiously perfect.

“Alright fine,” he says when the silence becomes unbearable, roughly ten steps later. “So we worked together for a little while two decades ago. So what?”

“Your skills were admirable then, I know they have only improved over the years. I doubt we are in much danger in a cave in a well-populated region. It will not hurt to learn what is here.”

Fuck Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng thinks with as much vitriol as possible. He can’t say why it irritates him down to his core to be complimented by him, even obliquely, but honestly he’s pretty sure he’d prefer the stony, angry silences he’s been subjected to for so many years instead.

They walk in silence for a little while then, both on alert for something out of the ordinary. It’s Jiang Cheng who feels it first again and he stops in his tracks, holding one hand out and following a thready, barely-there stream of cooler air to a wall, utterly indistinguishable from the rest of the space around them.

“We should mark where we’ve been, just in case,” he says as his hand sinks into the rock like it’s made of pudding. The mental image adds an odd layer of unpleasantness to the cool pressure of it, the idea of it...congealing around his hand making him wrinkle his nose a bit in distaste.

“Mn.”

Jiang Cheng loses the battle against rolling his eyes but he says nothing only because Lan Wangji follows it up with a gesture that leaves a signature on the solid part of the wall next to the illusion, the characters glowing a gentle blue.

“Any way you could do one of those back at the beginning in case someone needs to come hunting for our bodies?” he asks as dryly as he can manage to try to get a rise out of his companion, but all it earns him is a flat look that Lan Wangji doesn’t break as he repeats the gesture only to send the talisman darting back up the path the way they had come.

He’s pretty sure it would be physically impossible for him to scowl any deeper than he does when Lan Wangji waves him ahead towards the false wall, the silent ‘after you’ somehow full of so much sarcasm it’s very much toeing the line of insulting, at least in Jiang Cheng’s book.

This time he’s prepared for the discomfort of the illusion and he walks smoothly through it. He turns to watch Lan Wangji join him and he’s startled to realize he doesn’t even seem to walk through the wall. One moment Jiang Cheng is alone on the path in the pitch black and the next Lan Wangji is beside him looking as unruffled as ever, fire talisman still glowing between his extended fingers held at shoulder-height.

“Do you have more of those?” Jiang Cheng asks begrudgingly with a nod at the light. He knows it’s Wei Wuxian’s invention, and that he of all people has no business asking to use it when he’s spent so long hunting down any trace of his brother’s work to destroy it utterly. He also knows that Lan Wangji is equally aware of this, and yet he simply reaches into the front of his robes to withdraw another talisman between his fingertips and hold it out for him to take. He studies it for a long few moments once it’s in his hands, but he can find nothing suspicious in it at all. It should be a good thing. It is. But it also only serves to make him feel foolish, as he has many times since Wei Wuxian’s return.

“It will not harm you,” Lan Wangji just has to break his silence to supply, because of course he fucking does, the asshole.

“I know that!” Jiang Cheng snaps. He leaves off investigating the talisman any further to stuff it in the front of his own robes, just in case they should get separated. “You think I don’t understand Wei Wuxian’s inventions? I know them better than anyone.”

“Debatable.”

“Fucking debate it then!” he challenges as he storms off, Lan Wangji somehow seeming to walk sedately even as he keeps pace with him.

“Wei Ying is a prolific inventor. He uses our home as a workspace. He describes each of his new inventions to me in detail, and I offer assistance when necessary to refine his processes.”

“Fine, you know his inventions better now, but I’m the one who spent 13 years chasing down all his notes and the morons trying to use them for themselves!”

“Recognition of the work for the purpose of destruction does not in itself lead to understanding that which you are destroying.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“I assist him with all of his techniques, old and new, demonic and orthodox. I do not, nor have I ever, attempted to ruin his work - unlike you.”

Jiang Cheng stops in his tracks and whirls around to face Lan Wangji who finally has a different expression on his face, though how he managed to make himself look even colder than before Jiang Cheng has no idea.

“ ‘Unlike me’,” he repeats, his voice utterly flat in another way that usually has people scrambling for cover, though of course Lan Wangji seems completely unmoved.

“We are fundamentally different, Jiang Wanyin.”

“Yeah no shit,” he mutters as he turns around again to continue forward at an angry, too-quick clip that Lan Wangji effortlessly keeps stride with, the fucker. “Those people who tried to follow in his footsteps were murderers.”

“Mn. They were irresponsible. Wei Ying has expressed regrets that his notes found unworthy hands to wield them.”

“And yet not one other person ever tried to stop them! It was just me this whole fucking time! What else was I supposed to do, just let them run rampant?!”

“No.”

Jiang Cheng grinds his teeth and tightens his grip on Sandu as he’s forced to acknowledge that he understands what Lan Wangji was really conveying even through a single syllable - that he recognizes that he had done what he felt he had needed to do to protect the innocents that were his responsibility, and yet there’s still a note of judgement in his voice that puts Jiang Cheng’s hackles up.

“But?” he prompts through his teeth.

“Disposing of Wei Ying’s notes out of anger that they were being misused by others was unnecessary and self-serving.”

“Well they’re gone anyway and all your disapproval of my methods isn’t going to bring them back.”

Lan Wangji stops all at once and Jiang Cheng walks on a few steps ahead before he realizes and stops as well, turning back to face him with a scowl.

“What?”

“Illusion.” Lan Wangji turns to run his fingertips along the wall to his left, moving slowly until the wall swallows them up. He withdraws to sketch another marking talisman and leaves it on the wall before stepping forward into the illusion, leaving Jiang Cheng to scramble after him in the dark, guided only by the blue talisman.

“Stop doing that!” he blusters as soon as he gets through. “It’s fucking dark in here and you have the light!”

“Mn.”

“And stop doing that!!” he outright shouts at Lan Wangji and his stupid fucking nothingness. He’s as blank and icy as ever and Jiang Cheng suddenly realizes that he has officially had it. “What is your fucking problem?! You said it yourself that we’ve worked together before, we fought together during the Sunshot Campaign, what’s so different now?!”

Jiang Cheng finally goes quiet as Lan Wangji’s expression..shifts. Outwardly, he doesn’t really seem to change that much, especially not in the uncertain light of the talisman. But there’s something about his bearing, his presence that changes and it’s only then that Jiang Cheng realizes that what he’s been faced with so far is Lan Wangji’s distant disapproval. What he’s looking at now is..anger. The sort of anger that has given Lan Wangji as fearsome of a reputation in some circles as Jiang Cheng has earned for himself.

He refuses to back down as Lan Wangji practically stalks closer, each step precise and deliberate until he’s right in front of him, glaring from under furrowed brows and looking down his nose at him in a way Jiang Cheng viscerally hates.

“You killed Wei Ying.”

It’s delivered utterly flat, cutting and sharp at the edges. Through his teeth, through the proper Lan version of a snarl. It leaves Jiang Cheng speechless, floundering for a moment through the slice of it in his heart. It hurts as much as it has any time someone has dared to point it out to him - he thinks back to that day of Wei Wuxian’s reappearance in the mountains and the Lan kid who had reminded him he’d killed Wei Wuxian himself and he wonders suddenly just who it was who had taught the Lan juniors that part of the story. It had been common knowledge in the aftermath of the battle, but he realizes now that Lan Wangji, extremely influential and vital to the education of the next generation, has been holding that grudge close to his heart for twenty years. Who knows what else he’s taught them about that awful day.

“What?”

Now Lan Wangji really does snarl, lips pulled back over his teeth and nose wrinkled in disgust as he steps forward and Jiang Cheng takes an automatic step back only to be crowded back against the wall.

Lan Wangji was right - they’re more dangerous than anything in this cave could be, and Jiang Cheng very much doesn’t like getting that reminder when he’s apparently the prey.

“You killed my Wei Ying. You failed him.”

“ ‘Your Wei Ying’?!” he retorts as he finds his metaphorical footing again. “That was news to me when he suddenly popped back up, you know! You sure as fuck didn’t bother making that clear back when it could have helped him.”

It’s instantly clear that he struck a nerve and he presses the advantage as something shutters in Lan Wangji’s furious glare.

“You want to talk about who failed him? You didn’t manage to protect him either! You hid in your mountain and you Lan thought you were above the whole world, and by the time you realized what was happening it was too late to protect him!”

“I know.”

The admission draws Jiang Cheng up short and at least some of his anger bleeds out of him as Lan Wangji’s glare fades a little further and he drops his eyes down somewhere around his shoulder, though he’s still got him crowded up against the wall and a glance down shows that Bichen is half out of her sheath.

“You know?”

“I have discussed it with Wei Ying in detail. He has forgiven me.”

“He’s forgiven me too!”

Lan Wangji’s gaze darts up to meet his again, ice cold but no longer distant - this cold judgement is now very personal. Jiang Cheng is chagrined to realize he already misses the detached, uncaring attitude of mere minutes ago.

“He has forgiven you. I will never.”

Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath in when Lan Wangji steps back to give him his space again, and if it shakes a little then that’s his business alone.

He heard the rumors back then. That Lan Wangji had killed to protect the Burial Mounds. Their paths had crossed many times over the years in their dual pursuit of hints and rumors of demonic cultivation, of whispers of the Yiling Laozu returned as a vengeful spirit, or reincarnated, or miraculously alive and gathering disciples. He had assumed then that their goal had been the same, but now he wonders if when he had been seeking to squash any evidence of his brother’s work, Lan Wangji had been chasing it in the hopes of finding more. Finding truth in the rumors. Finding Wei Wuxian.

He can admit to himself, deep down in the private spaces left inside of him that no one is allowed to see, that he had been disappointed each time the rumors had proven to be fake, or each time a new demonic cultivator was nothing but a cheap knockoff of Wei Wuxian using scraps of his notes to try to chase the full scope of the power he had developed. He had been angry with himself - furious, even - for that disappointment, but that didn’t make it any less real. All those years of searching, hunting, and in the end it had gotten him..nothing.

It was Lan Wangji who had won in the end. Wei Wuxian lives with him in Cloud Recesses. He visits Lotus Pier now that they’ve repaired at least the bulk of the damage to their relationship over the years since Wei Wuxian’s and Lan Wangji’s wedding following the revelation of Jin Guangyao’s plotting. Sometimes he stays for months on end, treating Lotus Pier as his home and returning to Cloud Recesses for short visits. But in the end he always returns to Gusu. To his husband.

He always leaves Lotus Pier - and her master - behind.

“Well, you won in the end anyway,” he says now into the loaded silence around them. He refuses to look at Lan Wangji as he steps away from the wall and continues along the path, lost in thought. “He chose you and Cloud Recesses over coming home when everything was over. Congratulations.”

Lan Wangji is silent at his side for quite some time as they walk, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t bother trying to break the quiet this time. They continue this way for a while, communicating with gestures when they find another illusion, and then yet another. It’s as they’re walking through the tunnel behind this fifth false wall of the night that Lan Wangji finally speaks.

“He longs for Lotus Pier.”

Jiang Cheng scoffs and tightens his grip around Sandu. “Well no one’s stopping him from coming home.”

“You misunderstand.”

“Speak plainly then, who can know what you mean when you hardly say anything?”

The judgemental silence that follows makes him grind his teeth even though he doesn’t know quite what he’s being judged for.

“He longs for the Lotus Pier that no longer exists but for in his heart and his memory.”

Jiang Cheng has to stop in his tracks at that and take a deep breath in, hold it, let it out slowly. His grip on Sandu doesn’t loosen, but some of the tension in his shoulders does as they slump ever so slightly under the weight of his heavy silk robes - robes befitting his status. He hardly notices that weight anymore, he’s had far too many years of carrying it, but sometimes it feels like he’ll be crushed under the burden of them.

“We rebuilt it using the old builders’ plans. It’s nearly identical to what it was before.”

“You are aware that is not the point.”

“Enlighten me then, oh great Hanguang-jun.”

The next silence feels..considering, and Jiang Cheng spares a thought to be dismayed that he’s learning how to read Lan Wangji’s many silences, whether he wants to or not (he doesn’t). He hates it when Wei Wuxian is right, and in this moment he’s forcefully reminded of how many times his brother has asserted that it’s possible to read Lan Wangji as easily as anyone else if one only knows what to look for. Jiang Cheng has never been interested in learning what to look for himself, but it seems he’s going to anyway.

“Wei Ying lives life in each moment. It is unusual for him to dwell in the past unless forced to. He is my opposite. I understand well the pain in his eyes when he returns from Lotus Pier. He is unsettled by the lack of familiar faces, the easy happiness of the past, and by the reminders that time has been cruel in its passing.”

Jiang Cheng’s mouth drops open but he hastily shuts it again when Lan Wangji looks at him, eyes once again unreadable.

“I believe if he could somehow find a way to travel through time and return to when the Lotus Pier of your childhood was the only home he knew, he would. If he could return to when you and Jiang Yanli were his world, he would. The knowledge that this version of Lotus Pier is lost to him for good is not an easy burden to bear, and each visit is a reminder of his aches.”

“Stop.” Jiang Cheng turns his head in an attempt to hide that his eyes are suddenly stinging and his throat tight. It’s useless to hide, he knows, but his pride won’t allow him to cry in front of Lan Wangji, not like this. “You think he’s the only one who feels that way? I live there. I live it every single fucking day.”

“Then you understand.” Jiang Cheng says nothing in reply. It’s not really a question - they both know that he does. He wouldn’t have been so determined to remake Lotus Pier so exactly if he didn’t. “Do you begrudge him his attempt to live without this pain?”

“Yes!”

“Then you are hurting him further.”

Jiang Cheng musters up a glare through the sting of his sorrow, but he’s not sure how effective it is considering his eyes are still fighting desperately to shed their tears. Either way, Lan Wangji meets his glare with something that looks frustratingly like understanding. He doesn’t want Lan Wangji to understand him. He wants to argue with him, fight with him, force him to admit that for all their opposites they’re also fundamentally similar in one way that matters more than anything else -

They love Wei Wuxian.

It takes on different flavors, different appearances, but the fact remains that they love him down to their bones.

“Do you know why Wen Zhuliu was able to destroy my core?” he suddenly asks. If Lan Wangji is surprised by the change in subject he doesn’t show it. He simply shakes his head after a moment of consideration. “We were running, we were hiding, but Wei Wuxian left to get medicine for jie, she had gotten a fever after our parents...after everything. He told me to stay put in our room at the inn, but I didn’t. I saw Wen soldiers out in the street, they were looking for us and they spotted him, they were going to drag him away as soon as they realized who he was. I couldn’t...I let them catch me instead. They took me instead.”

His deepest secret. Something he hasn’t even told Wei Wuxian in all their talks over the last few years, and he, for some reason, has decided to tell fucking Lan Wangji, of all people. It is, he supposes, the last defense he feels he has. He loves his brother. He sacrificed his life for him. It’s not his fault that it didn’t stick, that Wei Wuxian would rip his very soul apart with his own two hands if he thought it would protect the people he cares about.

“He was never supposed to lose his. None of this was ever supposed to happen,” he finishes, unable to raise his voice above a crackling whisper. “I never meant to hurt him.”

Silence falls again, but for the first time tonight it feels...almost comfortable. Not quite companionable, but it’s not anything else really either. It simply is, the weight of the moment and his admission too heavy to cheapen with words.

He starts walking again when he feels capable of putting one foot in front of the other and Lan Wangji walks beside him. They go on through another tunnel of the cave that looks much the same as the others, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t even care if they’re lost, if they’re going in circles, if they’re not doing much of anything at all. It’s nice to just walk, to move, to not be alone with his thoughts in the dark as he has been far too many times over the years.

“You know Sizhui,” Lan Wangji says after a while of this, and Jiang Cheng snorts without much amusement.

“The polite kid who always talks for you like I don’t know you well enough to know you’re telling me to go fuck myself in your head? Yeah.”

“Mn. He is my son.”

That brings Jiang Cheng up short again and though he doesn’t stop walking he does stumble a bit and turn a shocked glare on Lan Wangji, still walking blithely along.

“Your son?!”

“Mn. His existence was kept quiet outside of Cloud Recesses. It is my understanding that outside of the Sect he is now known as an inner family disciple, but it is suspected he is a cousin.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That is intentional, for his safety.”

“Why for his safety? Is being your kid that dangerous? When did you even...have a kid? With who?”

The glare Lan Wangji gives him out of the corner of his eye can only be described as ‘scathing’ and Jiang Cheng will admit that he kind of admires it. Envies it, really. It’s a pretty good glare.

“I adopted him. He was Wei Ying’s before he was mine.”

Jiang Cheng stares blankly ahead again as he tries to reconcile that, come to terms with it. All at once, he thinks back to the single time he had been to the Burial Mounds when it had still been a safe haven for the Wens. When a bright-eyed child had clung to his leg, and Wei Wuxian had swooped in to pick him up, to hold him and talk to him like a parent, to scold him with a smile on his lips and offer him gentle affection before sending him on his way.

He thinks about Lan Wangji defending the Burial Mounds from the cultivators who had wanted to sack the place after Wei Wuxian’s death, and he thinks about the Wens who had sacrificed themselves at Jinlintai.

He thinks about Jin Guangshan bragging about wiping out the remaining Wens in one fell swoop, and how if he was drunk enough, if the right person asked him to tell the story, he would boast that he had made sure that every last person had accounted for the crimes of their family. In his accounts, though, there had never been mention of a child - and his retellings had been painfully detailed.

“He’s that kid from the Burial Mounds. A-Yuan,” he whispers with dawning horror. “He’s Wen Yuan?!”

“Mn. Should you reveal his identity, no one will find your body to put it to rest.”

That makes Jiang Cheng snort again and this time he actually is a little amused. “Threats, Hanguang-jun? Not terribly righteous of you.”

“Without Wei Ying, A-Yuan was the only reason I could find to continue living. I would kill without hesitation for him, for Wei Ying.”

“You already have,” Jiang Cheng points out - everyone knows what had happened when Lan Wangji had defended the Burial Mounds, and Jiang Cheng at least is aware that Lan Wangji had also killed at Nightless City. He had seen him protecting Wei Wuxian, killing any cultivators who tried to get near enough to stop Wei Wuxian from playing that damned flute of his, to stop him from killing more and more of their own. He wonders how many people now, if any, know that some of the deaths from that night that have been laid at Wei Wuxian’s feet rightfully belong at Lan Wangji’s.

“Mn. I have.”

“And you know if Wei Wuxian could hear us talking about...all of this, he’d tell us both that he didn’t ask us to, that he doesn’t deserve all of this.”

“Yes.”

Jiang Cheng sighs and shakes his head, irritated with his brother and his self-sacrificing tendencies even now, all these years later because he just never fucking learns.

“Does it really hurt him to come to Lotus Pier?”

“It saddens him, but there is happiness as well. He was afraid of losing you as well even though you both live. He is relieved he has not. It is..complicated.”

“That’s an understatement,” Jiang Cheng mutters under his breath, but he knows Lan Wangji hears him anyway. They continue in another silence, and a few minutes later Jiang Cheng finds another illusion. “What the hell is going on in this cave?” he finally asks, exasperated once they’re on the other side of it in yet another identical tunnel.

Lan Wangji doesn’t answer, he merely keeps walking forward and Jiang Cheng is forced to follow him with a scowl firmly fixed on his face.

“I will never forgive you for killing Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says into the quiet. “However, it saddens him to feel that he must consistently choose between us. I will not make him choose any longer.”

“You were complicit in it too, you can’t keep pinning this just on me you know!”

“I will do what I will. However, you are my brother-in-law, and you have given Wei Ying happiness in this life.”

“Yeah well I hate you too, but I guess there’s not much I can do about it either since the idiot married you.”

“Indeed. A truce, then.”

“Fine. Truce.”

Jiang Cheng glances sideways at Lan Wangji to find him looking at him similarly out of the corner of his eye, and after a moment the corner of his mouth twitches into the barest hint of a smirk.

“What?”

“You should hunt with Wei Ying more often,” he replies and before Jiang Cheng asks him what he means, he stops to sketch another talisman in the air, this one a bright blood-red, and when he releases it there’s the sensation of a pressure he hadn’t even noticed in the air releasing and he works his jaw to pop his ears as he looks around only to realize that they’re back in the room they had started in. And on the wall where he had spotted the first illusion there are a series of marks glowing blue, all in a line one right after the other - the markers for each false wall they had passed through.

“What the fuck?”

“Awwww Lan Zhan! No fun, he would’ve kept going for hours,” Wei Wuxian suddenly pouts and Jiang Cheng whirls around to find his brother leaning insolently against the wall where the entrance to the cave had been sealed - and is sealed no longer. He looks past his brother’s shoulder to find that the entrance is once again open to the air beyond it, the smell of their campfire at the entrance filtering into the space along with the sound of the juniors from their sects laughing and chatting, relaxing after their hunt earlier in the evening.

“Mn.”

“Wei Wuxian!”

The man in question dances away from his lunge with a laugh that rings off the stone around them.

“A-Cheng!!!” he sing-songs, drawing the sound out as he darts over to hide behind his husband standing still in the center of the room. “Did you like my illusion? I’ve been practicing. Lan Zhan didn’t you tell him it was an experiment?”

“He did not ask.”

“Yes I fucking did!!!” Jiang Cheng shouts and he makes another grab for Wei Wuxian, fully intending to yank him into a headlock at least, but he’s stopped by Bichen held across his path and Lan Wangji raising an admonishing eyebrow at him.

“You asked what was happening. The answer was ‘illusions’, too obvious to bother with. You did not ask whose, or for what purpose.”

“I hate you both,” Jiang Cheng snaps because that’s a Wei Wuxian-style answer if he’s ever heard one, just..Lan-ified. He refuses to think about the possibility that those two are more suited to each other than anyone might suspect and instead he turns to stomp over to the entrance with the intention to go pilfer alcohol from Wei Wuxian’s stash. He deserves it after being forced to have an emotional conversation with Lan Wangji, of all people.

The acoustics of the cave mean that the voices behind him reach his ears even as he walks up the tunnel that leads to the forest outside.

“Did you have a good talk with him, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

“Thank you.”

“No need.”

“Aiyah I know, but thank you anyway. The two people I love most in the world should get along.”

“A-Yuan and I get along very well.”

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian laughs and thankfully Jiang Cheng steps free of the tunnel into the clearing just beyond it before he has to hear any more, his ears and heart burning with the knowledge that Wei Wuxian loves him. That he finally has his brother back, even if it’s in a way he would have never chosen for them.

“Jiang-zhongzhu?” a mild voice asks, too gentle to startle, and he turns his head to find Lan Sizhui waiting nearby, a nervous expression on his sweet features, still just a little round with boyhood though it will likely only be another year or two before he loses all trace of baby fat whatsoever and matures into the man he’s quickly becoming along with the rest of his generation.

He meets the boy’s wide, earnest eyes and finds his defenses crumbling as he sees in him the boy who had hugged his leg and looked up at him with a curious little smile right in the middle of the misery of the Burial Mounds. He sighs heavily and turns his whole body to face him properly, his hands on his hips as he stares him down. To his credit, Lan Sizhui doesn’t cower or fall back at all, he simply waits patiently for Jiang Cheng to speak his mind.

“You might as well call me Jiujiu,” he harrumphs and Lan Sizhui’s expression falls open in surprise (and seriously, this kid was raised by Lan Wangji? He doesn’t see it.) “What? My stupid brother is your diedie isn’t he? You don’t have to, but..You can. If you’d like to.”

“Alright. Jiujiu,” Lan Sizhui replies, smiling and clearly pleased. The quiet moment is broken almost immediately by - who else - Wei Wuxian.

“DIDI!!!” he shouts, startling a nearby flock of birds, and it’s all the warning he gets before Wei Wuxian practically throws himself at him to cling to his side. “I knew you cared! Now you have to buy him presents for all his important occasions and we’ll bring him to Lotus Pier for New Year’s and -”

“Get off me!” Jiang Cheng growls as he shoves at Wei Wuxian without much success.

In the midst of their tousle, neither of them notice Lan Wangji drifting to Lan Sizhui’s side to press a comforting hand to his shoulder and gently guide him back in the direction of the camp, a rare, pleased little smile on his lips.

#The untamed fanfic #Lan Wangji & Jiang Cheng #Wangxian #Lan Wangji #Jiang Cheng #Wei Wuxian #Lan Sizhui #<- very briefly #post-canon #reconciliation

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wangxiandecoded · 4 years

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Episode 9

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

Lan Zhan remembers what Wei Ying had mentioned about the puppets the first night at Cloud Recesses showing he remembers quite a lot about him, he just doesn’t let on.

NHS is a big mood in this scene, an absolutely useless gay depending on two warrior gays to save his life. But he’s hindering their flawless team work so Lan Zhan uses the silencing spell on him.

This dialogue is so uncalled for and delivered in a way that makes you think Wei Ying just wants to see Lan Zhan have an outburst, kick back and admire how hot that is.

Wei Ying’s “you can go ahead and blame me for everything that is wrong with this world but my man has done nothing wrong in his life ever” smile.

You didn’t have to expose him like that but thank you, Jiang Cheng.

Wei Ying’s “sorry I accidentally did a hetero thing, let us please not remember this for the sake of my clean conscience” smile.

Yet Another Plot Device To Show Off Wangxian’s Chemistry

The Dire Owl subplot is one of the dreamiest scenes on the show and a fight sequence that proves Wangxian own the patent for words like soulmates, symmetry, equilibrium, balance, yin and yang, mirrors and their derivatives.

Here’s something that’s bothered me : Wei Ying calls for Lan Zhan twice and he doesn’t answer him the first time even though he looks searchingly in his direction. It is only when they knock into each other the second time that he explains the fog is a hallucination caused by the Dire Owl. (But of course Lan Zhan doesn’t need to answer him, the red string of fate will inevitably help them find the other.)

Clear-headed as he is, did he for a second believe that the Dire Owl was making him hallucinate Wei Ying’s voice the first time, and is that why he ignored him? Because Lan Zhan’s mind could be the spotless sea of tranquillity it is, but Wei Ying has now become the shrillest thought that breaks through and demands his attention. He doesn’t respond though, so he must have been sure Wei Ying is safe.

For Lan Zhan, Wei Ying will do even the impossible. He’ll try his best to seal off all his senses and mute his head that’s forever brimming with thoughts.

Ok, pause. I cried when I watched this for the first time and let me tell you why. The implications of this fight scene are astounding. We all know Wangxian are soulmates who can confront anything together but did we know that they could feel and find their way to each other even when their senses are completely shut? I mean, how attuned to someone’s existence do you have to be to achieve that? They are hyper focusing on nothing but the Dire Owl and yet moving perfectly with eyes closed in an outrageously impressive synchrony. They can feel the other’s presence and have utmost trust in each other to shield their direction. They move as if they’ve spent infinite lifetimes by the other’s side mastering this skill; they leap, spin and swerve like they think with the same mind. The way they fit together is to die for, nearly impossible and the legendary stuff from stories that we all wish we could have with someone in this existence. If I was whatever that stood in Wangxian’s way, I’d be terrified and call it a day. They are not just soulmates, they are The Original Formidable Soulmates™.

Wangxian Are Here To Kick Queerbaiters In The Ass

This fantastic display of battle prowess by the two heroes fighting back-to-back is one of the many things that convinced me The Untamed is not like the other stories out there. Simply because every stop of their journey is too romantic and the others don’t come close enough. It is an injustice to compare or group their relationship with the ‘dude bro, no homo’ chemistry that bromances usually sell. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are two people who are so passionately devoted to and absolutely belong with each other, they are soulmates not just in the minds of the audience or because the creators were afraid to make them something more, but soulmates by their own admission. There are other factors that strengthen their already supergay case like the absence of a female love interest in their lives and their flirty interactions being genuinely adorable as heck, as opposed to just isolated instances of b(romance). And it really, really, helps our case that the novel is canonically gay but it is also remarkable that a show that’s teeming with gay subtext can exist at all and go on to become one that is widely embraced by everyone, casual watchers and shippers alike.

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying's chemistry gives all the Western superheroes a run for their money. We no longer have to wonder what it looks like when two queer heroes who are in love get to kick ass together. See, this is what happens when you have the guts to invest in a gay romance. This show looked censorship in the eye and said gay rights anyway. (I’m going to digress from this show for a sec and just plainly weep for all the queer pairings on mainstream media that we shipped but couldn’t see the light of day because of the homophobic people behind them. It is great that the truth still lives in our hearts and the millions of words on ao3. But life feels a lot sweeter to know with certainty that our heroes are in love this time and celebrate the fact that the people who made this show knew and honoured that very well, that they honoured the audience. In my eyes, CQL is the unparalleled forefather of gay romance from now on. Because reading these epic queer stories is one thing but watching Wangxian’s story unfold along with the entire world means believing in the power of gay love. And seeing our favorite heroes in action makes the characters we look up to so much more real.)

Lan Zhan comes flying like the Prince Charming he is to break the shackles of heteronormativity trying to kill his soulmate! Hell yeah, king! Save us from that straight trope that’s been choking us since time immemorial.

We did not just see Wei Ying pretend to be dead so he can outsmart the bird and simultaneously get Lan Zhan to save him just because he likes that sort of thing. Nope, totally didn’t happen.

Oh, hello Ah Yuan! Details like this prove the show is well worth multiple rewatches.

There is nothing more uniquely Wangxian than the million thoughts they share with each other through mere glances, the frequency of which steadily increases. Who knew you could speak with zero articulation? Not having a soulmate sure sucks for the rest of us mortals. I doubt the audience can truly grasp the depth of their communication but I’m pretty sure it goes like this most of the time.

Wei Ying teasing Lan Zhan that the Goddess Statue tried to kill him because she had a crush on him is all kinds of hilarious. Lan Zhan looks somewhere in between “Wei Ying, we’re talking about the fate of the universe, stop being gay for 2 seconds please,” and "STFU, just because I can find my way to you blind doesn't mean I will hesitate to Silence you again."

Wei Ying Is Crumbling All Of Lan Zhan’s Walls

Most people maintain their distance from Hanguang-Jun, the Noblest Of Them All, he whose robes command respect and inspire fear. There is hence something very sweetly domestic about Wei Ying latching on to his silk tassel while subtext-whining, "Where are you going Lan Zhan, I refuse to live without you", and "Ugh Lan Zhan, you're so lost without me, ok fine, I'll help you.” It’s like he granted himself the lifetime entitlement of being Lan Zhan’s nuisance-companion the night they met, and thank goodness for that because Lan Zhan wasn’t going to let anyone into his life. Wei Ying is the exception who managed to charm his way into his heart and dissolve his barriers.

Notice Wei Ying even turns down free alcohol for Lan Zhan. And the sheer undisguised panic on his face that Lan Zhan is going to leave him alone after all the bonding activities he made sure they went through is endearing comedy at its peak.

We see Lan Zhan no longer believes resolutely in His Ways and lets Wei Ying persuade him to believe there is a better one. This is a great 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 for them because they’re communicating.

Lan Zhan doesn’t fight him anymore, period.

The Yin Iron starts acting up and Wei Ying is immediately there for Lan Zhan, gently grounding him. He can feel the horror and pain Lan Zhan has seen in the vision because of course he can. But does Lan Zhan see how much Wei Ying loves him and hurts for him? He has to. In moments like this, Wei Ying’s presence shows how wrong Lan Zhan is in wanting to do everything alone. We all need a friend in life. And it was destiny that led them to each other because their lives would’ve evidently been a lot lonelier without the other in it.

Episode 9 shows Lan Zhan warming up to Wei Ying some more : he has stopped being antagonistic altogether, lets Wei Ying pull him around, freely accepts his help, shares many glances with him and is ready to blast anything that lays a finger on Wei Ying sky high. (Of course we see that Wei Ying exaggerates needing his help most of the time. He plays the “I’m a frail man desperately in need of Hanguang-Jun’s protection” card because swooning into the arms of his lover is one of his favorite things. And not even Lan Zhan calls him out for it. They’re just so whipped for each other.)

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cactusspatz · 3 years

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October recs

Bit late this month - I got a TAD distracted by the election - but here we go!

I finished watching Guardian, so it's about half-and-half recs for The Untamed and Guardian. This month’s favorites first!

(Untamed) I feel like I win when I lose by so_shhy

Wei Ying is at his first Grand Final, rated fifth in the solo cultivator rankings, with the Qishan and Lanling silver medals tucked away in his sock drawer, and he’s about to walk into the arena for a match that everyone knows he’s going to lose.

A modern competitive cultivation AU.

I had so much fucking fun reading this story! Wangxian’s rivalry transitioning to friendship and romance is pitch-perfect, the fights are immensely creative (and occasionally hilarious), I loved the plot with the Wens and Wei Ying’s backstory, and the worldbuilding, and the Jiang siblings kicking ass, and and and... Far and away my favorite fic in this batch - I’m resisting the urge to read it again right now.

(Untamed) say it's here where our pieces fall in place by Lirelyn / @ginnymoonbeam

“It’s okay that you miss him,” said Lan Wangji, a familiar litany to them both by now. “Do you feel sad?”

“I feel sad,” A-Yuan repeated, shoulders hitching with tiny hiccuping sniffs. “When is he coming back?”

“I don’t know. I am not sure where he is.”

But this seemed to frustrate A-Yuan. “Xian-gege! I miss him! Please, baba?” He looked up at him with wet cheeks and a wide, quivering frown. “Please baba can you ask him? I really miss him!” He sobbed again, heartbreakingly.

It stabbed straight through him, cracking open the reservoir of loss and helplessness that was all his own. His child’s grief did that, sometimes. It always took him by surprise. He caught his breath sharply and gathered A-Yuan into his arms, holding him tight until the pain ebbed.

“I will try,” he said softly into A-Yuan’s hair, when he could speak again. He never made uncertain promises and tried not even to raise uncertain hopes, but his son was hurting. His son believed he could make it better. He couldn’t not try.

Wen Qing might at least know who this “Xian-gege” was. He would text her in the morning. It would be a start.

Modern AU where Lan Wangji has adopted A-Yuan, and also has a crush on the waiter at his regular diner, and doesn’t realize those people are linked. Oof, beautifully direct hit to the feels, with a great handle on Wei Wuxian’s issues and their effects on the people close to him.

(Untamed) out to get you (to get you) by iliacquer

In order to kill the Demon of Yiling, assassin Lan Wangji pretends to be courtesan. Falling in love with Wei Wuxian is an unfortunate complication.

(Or: the courtesan-but-actually-assassin!LWJ fic)

Fantastic dark AU where the Wens started the war earlier, and they’ve been defeated but the war is dragging on due to Lanling Jin’s ambitions. Iliacquer always writes stuff that emotionally hooks into my gut, but doesn’t always stick the landing plotwise - but this one definitely nailed it, twisty and aching and smart.

(Guardian) Now Lie in It by @xparrot

Ten thousand years before he's even born, Zhao Yunlan falls in love, all over again for the first time.

My absolute favorite ‘ZYL spent a while in the past’ fic, with ZYL falling ever more in love with older Shen Wei at the same time he's loving younger Shen Wei, because he finally understands. Plus, great worldbuilding and h/c around the war.

More recs under the cut: 12 for The Untamed, 9 for Guardian!

THE UNTAMED

-CANON

The Missing Ingredient For Good Health by @crowry - for all your Jiang/Jin family 'crying over soup' needs, a really lovely piece of gen fic.

can people untie themselves, uncurling like flowers by annemari - in which WWX gets hurt on a night hunt near Lotus Pier. Excellent Lotus Siblings reconciliation.

stuck under the moon by perilously - in which WWX returns to Cloud Recesses and LWJ isn't in love with him anymore. Love the feels, and WWX's self-worth issues clashing up against his investigative instincts.

To be of use by Erisette - lovely, long gen story about Lan Wangji becoming a father and teacher, covering the years that WWX is dead. Heavy on the kids and light on the grief, but I loved the worldbuilding and character work.

Can't Stop Thinking of That Far Road by Forestofglory - charming post-canon juniors epistolary fic, with great narrative voices for the boys.

-AUS

forget the shade from this other tree by VagabondDawn - Qiongqi Path fix-it AU, in which Wei Wuxian goes to Cloud Recesses first so that he can travel to Jinlintai with Lan Wangji. A very simple point-change followed through creatively and well.

Tempo Rubato by Spodumene - modern Persuasion AU! Absolutely nails the yearning ache that any good Persuasion AU must have, and I liked the portrayal of LWJ's depression.

I am lonely for you by protos_metazu_ison - in which the people that Lans fall in love with are cursed with devastating bad luck, Lan Wangji can't help loving Wei Wuxian anyway, and then canon happens. A little loose in the details, but achingly romantic.

Three Gates by nirejseki / @robininthelabyrinth - interesting AU where Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao meet as children, and Meng Yao grows up in Qinghe with his mother. Meng Yao using his sneaky powers for love instead of ambition, great character work on Meng Shi, and good Nie brothers action.

Lynchpin by @shanastoryteller - fantastic, sprawling AU where Jiang Cheng can't stop thinking about JGY's claim that he could have saved WWX by standing by him, time travels back, and fixes things. There's a few plot points that don't work for me, but in an AU this complex that's pardonable, especially for a JC POV this good.

Like a House on Fire by KouriArashi / @gingersnapwolves - 911/emergency responders AU! Charming episodic competence porn with some light backstory/family/work-related angst, some romance, and a great natural disaster subplot.

Covered in Bees by ScarlettStorm - silly but delightful modern meet-cute where WWX comes home to a swarm of bees in his yard, and calls a local beekeeper for help - who turns out to be the insanely hot Lan Wangji, of course. Flirting! Puns! Bees!

GUARDIAN

Etched Into Bone, Into Heart by Trobadora - in which Zhao Yunlan gets amnesia instead of going blind, and forgets Shen Wei. MY HEART.

use your words (not your fists) by shadowlancer_95 / @shadowsofmoonracer - in which Shen Wei and Ye Zun reconcile after their long sleep, instead of failing to communicate. I really liked the way this fic tied things back into canon, because I want my twins reconciliation AND my time loop romance, thx ever so.

10/10 WOULD MARRY by aubreyli - in which Shen Wei's students review his (ahem) assets as a teacher online. Gossipy and fun outsider POV work, but the crowning piece is when Zhao Yunlan finds the site and posts one himself, the shameless bastard.

In Vino Veritas by galaxysoup / @galaxystew - really lovely gen piece where Zhu Hong and Shen Wei talk about loving Zhao Yunlan.

Flowers & Grass by Xparrot - in an attempt to kill a Dixing murder flower in the sewers, Shen Wei is exposed. Starts out with adorably high Shen Wei, and then gets increasingly terrifying.

Goblin Fruit by frith_in_thorns - tense and original post-canon casefile featuring a dangerously addictive Dixing drug and the boys being equally dangerously inclined to risk their lives for each other.

Spark by xparrot - in which Shen Wei catches a Dixing cold. Domesticity, caretaking, and the boys' insecurities about the same.

All-Consuming by ratbones - zombie apocalypse AU! I feel a little bad for this author that a real life pandemic happened in the middle of her WIP (now completed), but if you're up for reading that, it's a great mix of zombie tropes, a twisty plot, and our beloved Weilan time loop romance needs.

What He's Got by neery / @this-is-neery - whoof, a interesting AU and compelling look at Ye Zun's mindset, where hurting Shen Wei is all that matters, but little flashes of emotion filter through despite himself. Dark but hopeful. TW for sexual assault.

#the untamed #mdzs #lan wangji/wei wuxian #wangxian #guardian #shen wei/zhao yunlan #weilan #fic rec #monthly recs

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naw-naw-honeyimgood · 3 years

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ChengQing (lmao never realized that was their fucking ship name)

so pros of (Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing):

one of the few possible het ships available to mdzs fans like there are all of five named female characters and this is the only one not in an established het pairing. and like sure ive seen yanli w/ someone else a couple times but you CANT put her with JIANG CHENG and i cant say ive ever seen mianmian in a serious relationship in fics with anyone besides either her canon hubby or a chick (usually yanli, wen qing herself, or even sometimes both lmao).

it’s basically written itself in cql!! he has a very obv and clear crush on her, even gives her a comb and offers to help her! she seems interested but the way the storyline went it was simply not meant to be :’(

you get to pair off jiang cheng!! ngl once u finish mdzs its kinda sad for everyone not wangxian (in their generation/above) cuz theyre the only one that get a happy ending. Everyone else is forever alone / depressed / bitter or a combination thereof. so it’s nice to see jiang cheng getting a happy ending!

he... gets... kids...? like ngl as a childless person that is happy to stay that way thats not exactly a pro in my eyes but you might look at his relationship w/ jin ling and say “he’s a great father! he deserves to be a father!” which okay good news! wen qing can bear children!

Now. Cons.

for one thing the fact that you have a lack of options doesnt exactly mean every possible het pairing can have good chemistry even if you change circumstances enough. there comes to a point where certain pairings can only be really viable if one or both of them are ooc.

lets be honest im willing to bet that AT LEAST 80% of the reason cql introduced this ship was because they were not allowed to make the wangxian pair explicitly Together (and i dont even mean anything specifically sexual), and they needed SOME SORT of romance to feature in the story. xuanli doesnt count because theyre an established background ship, the jiang parents dont count as romance, we aint talkin about the villain relationships, and lbr, mianmian already had a lot more signif in cql than mdzs. so it makes sense that they took the arguably most important male chara besides wangxian and made him have a crush on the most important female character that wasnt his SISTER.

what im trying to say is that cql pulled that pairing out of a hat. if you look at canon at ALL i highly doubt there would ever have been feelings, just as there never were. we dont quite know the age dif but we know that wen qing was the older sister and wen ning might have been a bit younger? than the boys? cannot quite remember but we dont know if she was only a year or two older or if it was like. mingjue and huaisang. we dont know! and i canNOT see jiang cheng going for an older chick. also their personalities would clash So Much. she has older sis vibes and not the gentle kind like yanli. she snaps at wen ning’s mumbling and stuff a good couple times- you think she’d tolerate jiang cheng’s emotional immaturity? hah.

this also kinda segues into my main point of: as depressing as it is that jiang cheng is forever alone unless you pair him off... he would honestly put whoever you pair him off with through hell. he’s not nice. so many jiang cheng stans like to argue that he’s a traumatized kid that was raised to channel his emotions through anger (and raises bitterness under his skin like an ugly puppy) but inside he has a heart of gold, and they’re... not exactly wrong! i mean- literally every younger chara is traumatized in some way. but... that doesn’t really... excuse the shit he’s pulled? as much as jiang cheng stans like to forget: jin guangyao was RIGHT when he said that jiang cheng’s insecurities got wei ying killed. his CLOSEST ALLY.

tying back to wen qing we have their actual CANON interactions (or lack thereof). wen qing didn’t exactly protect wei ying and jiang cheng out of the goodness of her heart when lotus pier fell: she was protecting wen ning (her BROTHER) from the repercussions of his own actions by saving wei ying (and Jiang Cheng ig idk he was just there bUT YOUNG MASTER WEI-)

not QUITE sure why she agreed to doing the golden core transfer (maybe scientific curiousity? i mean she had an unproven medical theory and here was a volunteer) but it def wasnt For Jiang Cheng.

and then the next time she saw him? do you guys remember the next time she saw him? it’ was when jiang cheng came up to the burial mounds to kill wen ning’s corpse and tell wei ying to turn over the wens.

KEEP IN MIND that jiang cheng KNOWS wen ning and qing SAVED HIS FUCKING ASS after lotus pier (not How but he KNOWS THIS) and yet he still tells wei ying to hand them over.

he makes wei ying choose between what amounts to the cultivation world and his morals.

that does not a good healthy relationship make. also again their personalities would clash like so bad. i love wen qing way more but you have to admit her personality is super similar to madame yu’s. and we already agreed that jiang cheng was traumatized as a kid. im not saying fengmian didnt have a hand in it but you gotta admit a good amount was madam yu and her insecurites and accusations she piled on her son. and you wanna pair him up romantically with someone who won’t take his shit and smile? will call him out? HAH.

im not saying this because i think jiang cheng should be with a softer personalitied (guy) like lan xichen or wen ning or huaisang because god knows those pairings have their own issues. im just saying that in canon-verse all i can ship whole-heartedly is jiang cheng / therapy, but since there is not therapy in canon-verse, or even if there WAS then there’s no way he’d admit to needing it, then yeah he can stay single for all his bitter life. better that than making jiang parent relationship 2.0 like fuck.

(this of course means that in modern aus where he DOES get therapy i am Open)

also real quick but jiang cheng was NOT a good parent to jin ling and i will not take constructive criticism like sure he was better than the jiang parents and the lan parents but that is SUCH a low fuckin bar and it’s a fact that in chapter 9 jin ling literally thinks “if I can’t slice off her head with this blow, I will die here- death it is then!!” (taken gratefully from the exiled rebels scanlation) and that is NOT a healthy-minded child.

the only healthy minded children is like. jingyi. and probably sizhui. although i am not here for the way the lan sect raise children but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

also i want you to look me in the eye and tell me that wen qing could and would do anything besides throw down with someone that so much as looked at her brother wrong

because jiang cheng apparently decided to lay the blame for jin zixuan’s death at wen ning’s feet (which is incredibly ironic considering he blames wei ying for yanli’s death??? like i feel like he could stand to use his brain cells a bit more??) and repeatedly tried to kill him.

#anyway this has been my ted talk #i dunno im just getting kinda tired of a certain writer and their idealized world but eh #it happens a lot too and damn cql certainly made wen qing more waif-ey #i didnt and do not want to get into the implied xianqing either do not start #im just saying that jiang cheng has a lot of flaws that people like to ignore a lot #this is true for many other charas too tbf #jiang cheng #not the angel you like to think he is #wen qing #not exactly the forgiving type #like i said tho they do work well together in modern aus with therapy available #and also tbf this isnt exactly my only issue with this author's fic(s) either lmao but hey #jiang cheng the prat #always ranks p high in my grievances #esp considering its a post-canon fix-it type so jiang cheng still did All That #also in any case this author seems determined to pair off like everyone into mostly het ships #mdzs #this is not for jiang cheng stans lmao #sorry ive been awake for like mayn hours and just got some difficul news and had Thoughts

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amedetoiles · 4 years

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give me a character meme! wwx please!!

[All gifs made by me. No stealing or reposting, thank you. ♥︎]

★ How I feel about this character

I love wwx so much and he deserves so much!!! My feelings for him can be summed up by my first ever meta in this fandom, this half-crack half-shitpost, and the many many meta tears scattered across all the tags on my page that various people have yelled at me for. I love him. I love him, I love him, I love him. No character has wrecked me as much as this stupid chaotic ass, who is so inherently good and selfishly selfless it fucking hurts. Yet, for all the love and care he gives freely to everyone else, he can’t for the life of him compute any that others have given to him. He tries so hard to be good, to make the right choices even in impossible, horrendous circumstances, and it’s excruciatingly painful watching him realize again and again that even good choices paved with good intentions can cause destruction. He suffers so much because of it. He suffers before we even really meet him. @cangse-sanren wrote “Your parents were bright smears of color and laughter to you, but little more” in this beautiful fic, and I still weep about it daily.

I love how immensely protective he is of both his siblings. He just tries so goddamn hard to be what everyone needs. I could and have and will continue to cry about him every day. How his pathological tendency to repress all things that hurt him, to cover up his pain in humor and obnoxiousness and bravado, and his internalized belief that he is worth much less than everyone else, all converged into the most awful way possible. How despite losing his sect, his siblings, his friends, he was still trying up until the very end. God, what a fantastically complex fucking character. To watch him bloom again after that deluge of rage and grief and insanity 13/16 years later was the most satisfying journey anyone could possibly depict. To know that he has the chance to heal, to recover, to grow with all the different parts of his family he once thought lost forever now back in his reach (yes! even our angry grape!!). Truly amazing.

★ All the people I ship romantically with this character

WangXian!!!! These kids who came out of endless tragedy and trauma to find a love, a trust in each other–theirs is a love story that truly extends across space and time. It warms my heart to watch them rebuild their lives together into something warmer, and brighter, and happier than either of them ever grew up knowing. To watch them shed the psychological trauma on what it means to love and be loved given to them by their terrible parental figures and say, “No. We’re going to be better than that.” I love how they complement one another. How loudly and quietly they love each other. How in the warm security of each other’s embrace, they are each able to work through their own internalized traumas without judgement. Lan Wangji’s uncompromising devotion. Wei Wuxian’s fierce protectiveness. It’s hard to say who else could fit together so perfectly. What a joy it is to watch Wei Wuxian realize that he is no longer alone, that Lan Wangji is and will always be standing beside him. What a joy it is to watch Lan Wangji realize that this is not the dream he’s spent years suffering through, that Wei Ying has returned to him against all odds. What a fucking joy it is to watch them both learn to trust happiness, to trust love, to trust each other. GOD. *wails*

★ My non-romantic OTP for this character

YUNMENG SHUANGJIE. YUNMENG SIBS. YILING SIBS. A-YUAN AND HIS TWO DADS. All the different found families that permeated the story was just breathtakingly beautiful. They all fucking gutted me. It all at once makes Wei Wuxian’s story that much more beautiful and that much more tragic. For a child who lost his parents before he even had time to remember them, who then had to rebuild his family again and again, only to lose them each time in increasingly horrifying ways–it truly fucked me up. Wei Wuxian stood on that cliff in Nightless City, and it was visibly clear that he wanted nothing more than to join all the families he loved and watched die (because of him).

The beauty of his story of course is that for all the tragedy that he is subsumed by, for all the ways that he is wronged and has wronged, there are equal, if not more, number of ways that he is lifted, is healed, is shone a light through all the darkness. In the end, his families return to him. Wen Ning, who lived despite it all, carrying the memory of his sister, the best doctor in the world. His shijie shining through his bratty nephew’s heart of gold. His very own A-Yuan, kept safe and protected all these years by his soulmate, his zhiji. His angry grape of a little brother who can’t say I forgive you but tosses him Chenqing that he’s kept safe all these years and says I trust you. They’re all a little broken, a little worse for wear, but there’s something extraordinarily beautiful about these families who find each other again through the bridges they rebuild towards something better.

★ My unpopular opinion about this character

Oh man, I’ve seen a lot of debate about wwx that I try not to get into (I type this of course as I ready myself to do exactly that). Probably the most unpopular opinion (possibly?) I have is that I don’t personally feel like the addition of a second flautist and expanding Jin Guangyao’s villain-ry in CQL detracted or reduced Wei Wuxian’s complex morality–one of my favorite and best parts to his character. I still think he is very gray. His tragedy is still contingent on his naive idealism and his willful blindness that a person only needs to be righteous and honorable regardless of reputation and politics. This clearly isn’t the case. Not just for him, but for all the characters. You can do everything right and still be punished. You can do everything right and still cause others pain. You can be the most hypocritical, loudmouthed piece of judgmental shit and still remain unpunished and available to share your stupid ass ignorant opinions on matters that have nothing to do with you. (Whoops that got away from me.) Wei Wuxian learns this repeatedly. It’s excellent and heartbreaking.

The thing about Wei Wuxian is that for all that he has imposter syndrome, for all that he is unable to see that he is a person worthy of the love he receives, he is still not only extremely confident in his own abilities and in his beliefs of what is right and what is wrong, but also that he is the person who can decide that line between justice and evil. An arrogant assumption, and one that causes not only him but the people he strives to protect a significant amount of pain. This wasn’t lost in CQL. While the plot technically does absolve him of all of his crimes on a surface level, it’s clearly not as simple for Wei Wuxian himself. In the Ancestral Hall, Wei Wuxian stares at the names of Jiang Fengmian, Madam Yu, and Jiang Yanli, whose lives are heavily felt on his shoulders, and he tells Lan Wangji, “After all, the Stygian Tiger Seal was created by me. Whether Jin Guangyao was there or not, that fact can’t be changed.” The show despite its censorship still asks the audience to evaluate his actions and the role he played, both willing and unwillingly, in the deaths of so many people.

It is also shown clearly that the cultivation world only stops trying to kill him because there was now another target, another scapegoat to blame. This is something that Wei Wuxian knows and expresses on multiple occasions on the show. For all that the show may have change things, I don’t think it’s necessarily correct or fair to say that it completely washed away the nuance that was present in the novel. The overarching conflicts and questions are still there. What is moral and what isn’t, what is justified and what isn’t, who is at fault for unforeseen consequences and who isn’t, and the role of external factors and circumstances in all of this. As someone who watched the drama first, I didn’t feel that the complexity of all the characters and their decisions was lost at all in comparison to the novel I later read. The show was honestly superb and still the best version for me overall. (Please don’t send pitchforks.) I have so much more to say about this, and Jin Guangyao still being a great nuanced character foil, but alas, this is already too long.

Other things: Wei Wuxian is a good brother actually, and he knows Jiang Cheng very well. He tried his best under the worst possible circumstances, and it was a great big shit show. I hate discussions where people try to hold one brother more responsible than the other. They both very nobly (and very recklessly) sacrificed a great deal for each other, and they both, frankly, fucked up. They’re Twin Idiots, and I’ll love and drag them both equally dammit! With that in mind, Wei Wuxian’s happy ending isn’t just him joining GusuLan sect, novel be fucking damned (yes, I said it!). His home can be in Gusu and Yunmeng. *SLAMS FISTS* Let 👏 Wei 👏 Wuxian 👏 go 👏 home 👏. (Talking to you, my grape guy. Jin Ling is going to show up in Lotus Pier one day with his da-jiu, and you’re just going to have to deal with it.)

★ One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

WEI WUXIAN PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HUG YOUR DIDI. Jiang Cheng has been waiting 16+ years for your hug, and he damn well deserves one, especially since he gave you such a great octopus hug, all limbs and burrowed scrunchy faces. Like, I know, I know, you were distraught, and traumatized, half-beaten to death after three days of intense surgery, then reaped by ten thousand undead souls calling for revenge, but guess who told your favorite (only) angry grape little brother that in the next life, let’s be brothers again okay? GUESS WHO IS LIVING HIS NEXT LIFE??????? Bruh. Chop chop. Hop fucking to it.

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adhd-wifi · 4 years

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Jiang Cheng’s Deepest Personal Struggles

I spent more time on the title than I did the actual post.

Note: Wei WuXian is also very present in this meta, because Jiang Cheng’s entire story and development is so heavily tied to him that you literally cannot separate Wei Ying from him. And I thought Lan Zhan was bad.

Personally, I find Jiang Cheng’s traumas and internalized issues so much more interesting than his siblings’. Wei WuXian’s issues were much more dramatic and intense, but not uncommon in fiction, while Jiang YanLi’s issues were not explored in canon. With Jiang Cheng, we see so much of his development and how it is mostly negative in nature. However, even though Jiang Cheng’s development is negative more than positive, it’s very interesting to see how it affected him and how he does maintain his old personality even despite what he’s been through, which makes him the most realistic character out of the three siblings in my opinion.

In other words, I fucking love Jiang Cheng as a character so fucking much even though there are times in which I would gladly throw a book in his face and if you tell me he’s a badly written character I will break into your home at 4am on a Tuesday night and rearrange all your furniture before stealing all your spoons and leave a 27-page essay on why you’re wrong in their place.

(I won’t actually do that. I’m lazy. But not lazy enough to not write this long ass post I guess.)

So Jiang Cheng’s issues are extremely obvious to us, the audience, even more than WWX’s, despite WWX being the POV character. (This is probably due to WWX being a bit of an unreliable narrator, ignoring his own problems for JC’s sake, but we’ll get to that in another WWX post.)

We know the main problem is how he was raised, with JFM and YZY as parents. Between the two, we see that JFM’s neglect and favouritism towards WWX was actually much more impactful and damaging to him than anything from YZY. JC wanted his father’s approval and love, and while YZY berated him for being worse than WWX, JC at least felt like his mother cared about him in some way. YZY’s abuse was still extremely damaging of course, and she definitely contributed to JC’s problems by constantly yelling about how JFM cared more about WWX in front of JC. Still, the main problem was this: JC felt like he wasn’t loved by his own father, and then felt like his mother spent more time being angry at WWX than caring for him.

WWX and JYL also weren’t as there for him as they maybe should’ve. Yes, they actively showed more love and support to JC than their parents did, but the problem between the siblings is that WWX and JYL were unable to give JC what he specifically needed, and also JC lacked the communication skills to tell them what he needed. Of course, this is none of their faults. The three of them were raised under the same abusive parents and all had their own ways of coping with their traumas, as I’ve mentioned in my previous posts (WWX version, JYL version). Something both WWX and JYL had in common despite their difference in character and responses was that they tended to internalize things and smooth out the conflict present in their family, but while JC did also internalize things, this coping response didn’t work for him as it did with his siblings (well, it’s not that great, but they don’t struggle with it the way JC does). When you realize that both WWX and JYL are more reflective of JFM’s nature, but JC is closer to YZY instead, it makes sense. Like his mother, JC is someone who needs to vent and get his emotions out, but he doesn’t get that chance. Or rather, he FEELS like he can’t, because no one else does except YZY, and YZY isn’t exactly a prime example of healthy venting (Pls Madam Yu your children are crying.) It’s hard to talk about JC without bringing up how he compares to others, especially WWX, since that is the core of his problems and insecurities in the first place. So let’s talk about that.

JC’s competitive nature is mostly the result of his abusive home, but also because he’s the youngest sibling. Youngest siblings in general tend to be taken less seriously than their older siblings and thus often end up with the need to prove themselves more. This, combined with his parents’ lousy parenting, just made a recipe for a self-esteem disaster that blames others over himself. In WWX’s case, his self-esteem problems are “I’m the burden, I’m to blame”. In JC’s case, the problems are “They keep comparing me to others, I’m not as good as they are”. So, with JFM seeming like he doesn’t love JC (at least not as much as WWX), and YZY always berating him for not being as good as WWX, it’s really hard to fault JC for having an inherent idea of “WWX is to blame for his suffering”.

Despite this, JC had also actively spent his life fighting this idea of his. He loved WWX and very rarely let his jealously show at all. Even during the time WWX had been recovering from fighting the XuanWu, and JC was angry and frustrated at his parents fighting in front of them all again, and voiced his concerns about how his father didn’t like him or his mother, leading to WWX comforting him and making the promise he would eventually break (along with my heart but it’s okay I didn’t need it anyway ;-;). This is after JC walked from Qishan all the way back to Lotus Pier without stopping, desperate to save WWX as fast as possible. With his inherent idea of blaming WWX for his problems, on top of not being recognized for such a valiant effort for his brother, JC was in the perfect position to take it out on WWX. But he never actually said it was WWX’s fault, even though we knew he believed it at the time. Yes, he blatantly told WWX that he was upset about his efforts being ignored, but JC’s wording at the time didn’t contain a single line of actual blame towards WWX. (WWX probably heard it different, but those are his problems, not JC’s.) Considering JC is someone who doesn’t think about his words when he’s angry or frustrated, it says a lot about just how much he tries NOT to blame WWX, because he still truly, genuinely loved his brother. As children, JYL told WWX that JC was secretly very happy to have a new companion, even though WWX was the reason for his dogs being taken away. And then we see baby JC crying about being unable to find WWX when he tells him to go away. Yes, there’s probably some fear of punishment from JFM, but if that was the only thing he feared, baby JC didn’t have to promise to chase dogs away to protect WWX for the rest of their lives together. JC loved WWX just as much as WWX loved him, he just has a very, very different love language from his brother.

And then...the fall of Lotus Pier happened. And all of that came crashing down, burning away along with their home. JC finally blamed WWX for what had happened, years and years of pent-up, painstakingly internalized jealously and blame exploding at once. Because no matter what WWX did before, no matter how much trouble WWX caused before, it never cost them THIS much. WWX coming into their lives had never been any REAL trouble, and JC had been able to forgive everything else, because he loved WWX, and because WWX kept him from being lonely. But now his parents, who he desperately wanted the love from, were gone. His home was gone. WWX kept him from running in and taking revenge. WWX was the only person there when he let his emotions take over, and WWX happened to be someone he could blame. So what else could JC do but blame him?

“If WWX hadn’t saved Lan WangJi, if WWX hadn’t provoked Wen Chao, if WWX hadn’t won the archery competition, if WWX hadn’t come into their lives...”

JC’s default response to grief and trauma is anger fused with bargaining. He finds blame in someone or something and focuses on the “What-Ifs”, because that’s what he was raised on. That’s just what he was used to, because JC could never vent like he needed to. WWX and JYL, his only real sources of comfort, never truly listened when he did actually say something. WWX would tell him “You’re better than you think”, while JYL would tell him “That’s how things are, but don’t worry”. While these were said and done out of good intentions, JC’s needs are never really met or even fully acknowledged. No one addresses or even really listens to what causes the problems, often knowing the cause but almost blatantly refusing to really talk about it. Again, this isn’t their fault. Both older siblings had their own coping mechanisms that clashed with JC’s, and their entire family have CLEARLY never been taught proper communication skills, so no one really knew how to communicate in the way they needed to. However, it’s still true that this affected JC the most, given his character. He NEEDED someone to listen to him, he NEEDED the validation that his feelings and person mattered, but he never got it.

And yet...the sad thing about this was that JC himself clearly gave up on trying ti get it himself after Lotus Pier was gone. He let his emotions rule him, seeking revenge against the Wens with every intention of slaughtering them as they did his family during the Sunshot Campaign. We see his loss of morality and hypocrisy when he shows how he was perfectly willing to let WWX, as the Yiling Patriarch, stay by his side as long as he was the enemy of the Wens despite how much he used to be against WWX using resentful energy. We see the innocent child who had only wanted the love and approval of his family become a vengeful man burdened with trauma and the responsibilities of a Sect Leader at too young an age during a time of war.

JC was clearly traumatized by Lotus Pier, and to me, it seemed that he had manifested a fear of seeing his home fall a second time. We see this especially in his passiveness towards the other sects when he was put on the spot during the times WWX “caused trouble” as the Yiling Patriarch, and how much more reactive and unstable he was when talking to WWX before WWX decided to leave the sect. JC had been desperate to keep things stable, safe, that he was willing to abandon the debt he owed towards Wen Qing and Wen Ning. He didn’t want to make enemies of the other sects, because his family and old home were gone. When WWX brought up JFM’s teachings, JC was obviously really affected by it, and I think that’s why he accepted WWX’s duel right then.

One thing I would like to say is this: At this point in their relationship, WWX absolutely wronged JC. Yes, it’s fully understandable why WWX did so, with his horrible misplaced guilt and unwillingness to drag JC into his choices any longer. But JC didn’t deserve this. He reacted badly to WWX after Lotus Pier, but we know for a fact that he was overwhelmed with grief and pain when he did, but despite how much he’d changed, it’s obvious that JC still loved WWX (still should’ve apologised tho). JC didn’t need to try and protect WWX, but he did. Some might argue that he did it for JYL’s sake or to keep power, but I doubt that. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have argued with WWX the way he did, screaming “I won’t be able to protect you!” if he only wanted WWX around for power or for JYL. JC did try, but WWX didn’t. WWX saw their relationship as a debt he owed to JFM and the Sect, and with the transfer of the golden core, he saw that debt repaid. Not once, however, did WWX truly consider JC’s feelings about it, too caught up in his own guilt and thus deciding what he thought was best for his brother. Again, it’s understandable, given what he’s been through. But after the war, WWX was definitely the main reason they fall apart, not JC. Not the mention the whole golden core transfer itself. WWX made the decision for JC, then refused to tell him and let his little brother abuse him as YZY did until they finally separated, WWX willingly breaking the promise he made to JC himself. WWX didn’t even try to reconnect, using the excuse of “the Wens needing him more”. Can you imagine how that must have felt for JC? He didn’t know what WWX did for him, so to him, he could only see his brother abandoning him for almost no reason. WWX was his closest companion his whole life, as well as the person who shaped him the most throughout his childhood. His life and character were dependant on WWX, both positively and negatively. WWX could live without JC, but JC couldn’t live without WWX, and he knew that.

When JYL died, the trauma of Lotus Pier returned, and once again, JC was consumed by grief. So he did the exact same thing he did back then: Blame WWX. And this time, he no longer had a good reason to give WWX leniency. After all, WWX pushed him away. WWX didn’t care about him. WWX chose the Wens, strangers, over him. WWX neglected him just as his own father did. JC’s complicated feelings towards his beloved brother had finally morphed into hatred, and WWX had let it happen. So WWX died, and JC no longer had a physical target to blame. But he needed something, someone, to blame, because that’s how he copes. It’s unhealthy, it’s damaging, it’s cruel, but it’s his coping mechanism. It’s the only way he knows how to deal with things because he never had a single chance to learn to cope in any other way. Thus, he hunted demonic cultivators and tortured them, but his hatred could never be resolved because he would never be able to receive the closure he desperately needed.

Then WWX came back, and JC learned about the golden core transfer.

If you’ve ever had someone sacrificing their time for you without needing to, for example a friend staying up for three days straight to finish a birthday present on time while on a busy and hectic schedule, you’d probably know the momentary guilt of “OMG you didn’t have to do that!” while being grateful to them. Now imagine that guilt times almost 20 years of hating the person who did something so selfless for you while also knowing you mistreated them for a portion of that time. JC was absolutely devastated to know what WWX did for him, because what the hell, the man he hated and blamed, the man who pushed him away and abandoned him for a bunch of strangers from a sect that destroyed their first home, did something that was essentially cultivator’s suicide? For his sake? Because he actually cared for JC despite everything he did? But also, with WWX’s core instead of his own, didn’t it also mean that he was still Not-As-Good as WWX, because he never truly achieved anything great without WWX’s help in some way? The main, EXACT, cause of his insecurities and problems in the first place? Bruh I can’t blame him for having an existential crisis here. I really can’t.

At GuanYin Temple (admittedly I’m basing this off CQL cuz I haven’t gotten there in any other adaption so I don’t know if this scene actually took place there or not), when JC shouted at WWX for everything, JC was finally given a chance to properly vent and finally have someone listen. Yes, WWX being shouted at isn’t favourable, but honestly, I think WWX truly deserved it from JC here. JC was finally able to say things against WWX to WWX’s face, and most importantly, have the last person he grew up with that he used to truly love and treasure tell him his feelings were valid. But even with this, I still find it fully believable and probably even narratively better that JC and WWX never fully resolved their relationship (as much as I want them too, for my heart’s sake) by the end of the story. Because even knowing what WWX did for him, honestly, how on earth could JC trust him again? JC was too hurt for too long, and besides, they were incompatible in the first place. WWX and JC’s personalities and coping mechanisms and all that simply clashed with each other too much for them to go back to being brothers like they used to be. But at least there’s now closure between the two, and Jiang Cheng might be able to finally move on from the past he’s trapped in.

Like I said in the beginning, I find Jiang Cheng the most interesting as a CHARACTER out of the Yunmeng Siblings, and I haven’t even finished what I wanted to talk about with him. Gonna do a post next time about his relationships with others aside from WWX, specifically with Jin Ling probably. Also I don’t actually think Jiang Cheng was neurodivergent to begin with, but that’s also another post all on its own. Anyways I hope y’all survived this long ass post LMAO.

#jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #chen qing ling #cql #my hcs #my posts #my ramblings #my metas #mental health metas

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miyu-hyperfixates · 4 years

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Water ghouls AU!

[Part 0.5: Meeting Wei Ying]

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

Madam Yu and Madam Jin were in Yiling for a night hunt, where they encounter kid!WWX being chased by a group of dogs. Seeing the kid cornered and trying to protect his very small bun... Both of them couldn’t help but think of their own children in such a position and went to chase the dogs away.

Madam Jin actually brought WWX two other buns.

WWX of course was very grateful towards the two very kind [AN: I think it’s the first time I’m using Madam Yu and kind in the same sentence, pff] aunties... And when he saw that they carried swords his eyes went very wide, before hastily rummaging through the pockets of his dirty clothes. He pulled out a talisman and gave it to Madam Yu, beaming, “Here auntie, a lucky charm for you!”

Both Madam Yu and Madam Jin looked intrigued by the ‘lucky charm’ that was actually a talisman. But they were unfamiliar with the sigils on it, and considering the slightly childish handwriting, both of them guessed that it might have been the kid’s work. It was more than probable that the kid’s parents were cultivators and he saw them writing talismans and wanted to copy them... Of course, to his small mind the sigils were probably no different from gibberish. And so he thought that he had made a proper “lucky charm” and decided to gave it the kind aunties as thanks.

Even Madam Yu had to admit that the kid was cute and endearing. So she took the talisman, thanks him and shoo him away. [Because she could be kind from time to time, but not that kind and besides they still have a ferocious beast to hunt down.] She slid the talisman in her sleeves and will probably throw it away later when the kid wasn’t watching.

And well two hours later and the street rat and his talisman were probably the last thing on her mind. ‘Cause the lone ferocious beast that they were supposed to kill turned out to be a pack of six ferocious beasts.

At some point during the quite challenging fight, Madam Yu got momentarily distracted by something and it allowed one of the beast to rush through her defense. Considering how close it was and the direction of its jump, she barely had the time to raise one arm to protect her face. But before it could actually chunk at her arm it suddenly stopped as if it had slammed into an invisible wall. The protective barrier of course collapse barely a few seconds after because the spiritual energy sustaining it was quite low but it gave Madam Yu enough time to take a few step back and counterattack.

Soon enough after that all the beasts were dealt with and they could finally relaxed. This was when Madam Yu took out the ‘lucky charm’ from her sleeve. It just happened that the arm she had raised to instinctively protect herself had been the one with the talisman within the sleeve. And sure enough, the talisman was still warm and the sigils were slightly bright in some parts and burnt in others. Indicating that it had been activated not so long ago.

Madam Yu and Madam Jin looked at each other with wide eyes. Turned out what they thought were a child drawing was actually a proper protective talisman!

So of course they had to go and track WWX down again, because a kid who could write talisman that could be activated and properly worked (even if it was for merely a few seconds) was nothing short of a genius. It would be a tremendous waste not to nurture such potential.

They didn’t have any difficulty in finding the kid again, he was actually sleeping in one of the corner of the street where they had met earlier near a small makeshift tent made of dirty quilts.

The kid woke as they came closer and beamed at them, “Aunties, are you finished night hunting? Did the lucky charm help?” Madam Yu: It did. Did you write it yourself? The kid nodded enthusiastically. Madam Yu: Do you want to learn more? WWX: Can I? Madam Yu: I belong to the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. It is one of the Great Sect of the cultivation world. If you come home with me, I’ll take you in as a disciple and teach you. I won’t be kind though, so be prepared. WWX: I’ll come!! I’ll come! Please teach me! Madam Yu: Very well, then come along. WWX rushed into the makeshift tent to take out his meager belongings (one fourth of a cinnabar, a very decrepit brush and the two buns that Madam Jin brought him earlier) and happily followed the other two. [And that’s how you catch a wild Wei Ying, *clap clap* (and she didn’t even need to bait him with watermelon)]

Because it was quite late at night and because the kid was super dirty, they decided to stay at a nearby inn, where the kid was forced to take a bath and changed clothes (that Madam Jin brought him... it was the clothes of the inn’s owner’s son and weren’t of high quality but it was definitely better than the clothes that WWX had been wearing).

After the kid looked more presentable and way cleaner, they took the opportunity to ask him about his talismans.

Turns out they were right. His parents had been cultivators - probably rogue cultivators - and it was his mother who taught A-Ying this protective talisman. It was apparently his “job” to help them make it. Because he was “back-up” and it was a “very important job”... And she had made him make a dozens of them until he got it right and could actually activate them.

Thinking about it, the mother’s aim had probably been to provide him with a tool to protect himself just in case.

By the time, he finished talking about it, the kid was starting to nod off so Madam Yu send him to bed. But just when she did so, she suddenly realized that she didn’t actually know his full name. “A-Ying, what is your name?” WWX *sleepily*: A-Ying’s name is Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian. Madam Yu, suddenly filled with dread: Wei? Are your parents Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren? [By the way, at that time, news of the WWX’s parents death had not reach Yunmeng yet, which is why she didn’t make the connection immediately when she heard WWX calling himself A-Ying] WWX: Yes! Auntie, do you know them? Are you friend with them? Madam Yu: We are not friend. But I do know them. WWX: Oh...

About eight months ago, WWX’s parents had gone to a night hunt in Yiling. And because they thought that this case might be more dangerous than usual, they didn’t take him with them for the actual hunt and made him wait for them back in the street of Yiling [in the exact corner where his makeshift tent is]. They never came back.

Madam Yu, once WWX fell asleep, very bitterly: So she’s dead... And I’m actually taking her kid in. What kind of fate is this? Is she mocking me beyond the grave?

Madam Yu could actually picture with great clarity what was going to happen as soon as WWX will arrive at Lotus Pier. JFM will welcome him with open arms. A son of a servant will be raised way above his station, not only as a mere disciple of the sect but like a son of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. And A-Cheng will probably cease to exist in the eyes of JFM as soon as the son of Cangse Sanren would arrive.

Madam Jin seeing Madam Yu very sour face, tried to reason with her, “You’re not going to leave back in the street, are you? Outside of the fact that he is Cangse Sanren’s son, he didn’t do anything wrong and has a lot of potential.” [Those words are so going to bite her in the ass a few years later when Meng Yao comes into play, haha] Madam Yu: I am not coming back on my words.

Besides she was pretty sure that even if she left him there, as soon as words of their death reached JFM’s ears, he’d go and search the whole word for Cangse Sanren’s son. He wouldn’t give up until he managed to find him and then they’d end up exactly in the same situation (actually it was probably even a worse situation, there was no way rumors wouldn’t fly around with Jiang-zongzhu looking for and adopting the son of the woman he was rumored to be in love with).... The only way to prevent this situation was to straightforwardly kill the kid right now. But Madam Yu had not reach such a low point that she would go and murder innocent young kids no matter how troublesome their parents were.

If she’s going to have to endure the presence of Cangse Sanren’s son either way, then so be it. If she’s going to have to get used to the idea that Cangse Sanren’s son will from now on be an adoptive son of her family, then so be it. But she will make sure that both sons will be treated accordingly, even if this is the last thing that she’ll ever do!

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Status Progress:

>> Wei Ying has been upgraded to adopted!

>> Madam Yu has been upgraded to on her way to become a good mother out of pure spite!

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Author’s note: Right so remember when I said after part 3 that Meng Yao will appear next time? I lied. (Though he does make his entrance in part 4, you get this prequel/backstory first.)

So in canon (please correct me if I’m wrong) WWX’s parents died when he’s about six and he’s only found by JFM when he’s about eight or nine? That’s such a huge gap. And my personal hc to explain it is that actually JFM didn’t know they died for a long time.

I mean both of them were rogue cultivators. If there were no one around when they died how would it be possible for anyone to know that they died? My guess is that they actually send messages/letters to JFM once in a while (like every two or three years to let him know what they’re up to). Stuff like, “If after X times you didn’t get any news, then please consider us dead” or something. If they died in Yiling right after sending one of their letters, informing him of their location, then it would make sense that JFM would only notice that something is wrong a few years later with no new letters. Naturally he’ll go look for them and search at the last place they mentioned first and try to trace back what happened from there. Which is how he found WWX in the street of Yiling.

Now in this universe Madam Yu stumbles upon WWX by pure accident less than a year after his parents’ death, which means that he actually gets adopted younger than he was in canon. Which means that by the times the event of part 1 happens, he was already living with the Jiang for something like 4 years (which explains why he has so much more lee-way and is so much more comfortable within the family).

Next time: Part 4 - Meeting Meng Yao (for real this time haha)

#mdzs #cql #my shitty au #my shitty art #wwx #kid wwx #madam yu #madam jin #madam yu is a good mom #Water Ghouls AU

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hang-on-a-mo · 4 years

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Top 10 Favourite Characters

Tagged by @ilovejaskierthebard to list off ten of my favorite characters. Sorry it's so late, I did this twice and both times Tumblr ate it so I gave up for a bit lol. But here we are now, in no particular order.

1. Geralt of Rivia - Witcher 3

Catty beyond all reason. Talks to himself about the weather. White Wolf. The Continants smartest dumbass. Puns. Tries his best. Is actually really soft but don't tell him that. #ManSlut

2. Wei Wuxian/Wei Ying - The Untamed (Mo Dao Xu Shi)

Can be summed up with Wei Ying No. Sense of self preservation highly suspect. Dork level over 9000. Plays with things he really shouldn't. Like necromancy. Wei Ying No. Instant Lan Zhan trigger. Adopted brother is an ungrateful asshole. Seriously, Jiang Cheng check your priveledge. Too pure for this world. Except when he's not. Canonically a gay disaster. Bunnies.

3. Will Graham - Hannibal (TV)

A study in why emphasizing with serial killers is not a Good Idea. Spends too much time eyeballs deep in crazy. Needs a new job. And a nap. Adopts all the dogs. Murder Husband. Flannel. Allergic to socializing. Understandably. His day job literally boils down to fantasizing about brutally murdering people, a great conversation starter. Therapist is a literal cannibal. Needs a new therapist.

4. Guts - Berserk

Hundred man killer before it was cool. #ChildhoodTrauma. Actual dork. Swings big swords. Barra af. Still somehow projects Bottom Energy. Bad Life Choices. Possibly gay for his ex best friend. Who added #AdulthoodTrauma when he betrayed their boy band for demons. Revenge quest. Did I mention trauma. Reckless. Kind of an idiot but we love him anyway.

5. Sephiroth - FFVII

There's no dramatic like Over Dramatic. Needs better friends. Nothing like finding out your entire existence is a lie. Was a Hero until he was rudely shoved off the deep end. Hair porn. When they say Safer Sephiroth what they really mean is Danger Sephiroth. Butt Wings. Seven foot sword is not a euphemism. Very stabby. Mommy issues.

6. Nyx Ulric - FFXV

Spicy Galahdian meatball. 100% worth the wait. Hee-Ro. Deserves so much better. Sass master. Ex bartender. Now a fancy ass magic warrior who makes a living magically yeeting himself at things and stabbing them. For Hearth and Home. Himbo energy.

7. Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars

Knight of the Sassy Order. Master of violent negotiation. Sith Lord's are his spEciAlitY. Back seat driver. Flirts with people actively trying to kill him. Obi-Wan No. Collects too many pathetic lifeforms. He is beauty, he is grace, he tends to land on his face. Absolutely savage. Hello there!

8. Superman - DC

Last dweeb of Krypton. Needs a better disguise. Except not. Who would ever suspect Clark "golly" Kent. Alien Big Dick Energy. Solar powered energizer bunny. Fan of lying by omission. And justITH. Property damage. One improper punch man. Someone teach this loser how to throw down pls god. Flyboy. Actual cinnamon roll. Every insurance companies nightmare. Supergeek. Allergic to space rocks. Frickin' laserbeams.

9. Jon Snow- GoT/ASoIaF

Jon "I'm gonna pet this fucking Dragon" Snow. Tries his best. Swings his sword sword. Steamy. The other White Wolf. Existence is a lie. Give the man a hug. And a dragon. Himbo. 28 STAB WOUNDS. Doom and gloom and drama. What happens when an introvert is forced to lead armies. Knows more than people give him credit for. Still himbo tho.

10. Leon S. Kennedy - Resident Evil

Wanted to be a cop. Got zombies instead. #Trauma. Kind of dumb. Can't drive for shit. Leon No. 101 sassy one liners. Also 101 statements of the exceedingly obvious. Needs hugs. Routinely ingests strange herbs randomly found lying around. King of fancy kicks. Somehow not a zombie yet. Cinnamon roll. Hunnigan is done. An actual disaster. Drink less, sleep more. Remake Lele, a bby boi. Both savage and adorable.

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difficulttoforgive · 4 years

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@stvrgvzcrs said ! Rosy Fog, Garnet Core & Sapphire Beacon, for Wuxian, clearly

under a cut cause this all got long as shit.

Rosy Fog: What are their immediate views on romantic love?

god. there is a Lot to unpack and partially it depends on what period of canon we refer to. one point to glance to is when he asks jiang yanli “why would you like another person? that kind of like. [...] no need to like a person like that. isn’t that like haltering your own neck?”. by this point, by my personal interpretation, he knows he is in love with lan wangji. but he also knows he is walking a path of damnation ( as a note this takes place after the sunshot campaign but before the burial mounds pt. 2 ) and that love, acting in the name of love, is a dangerous thing. particularly for him, since he knows in his heart that he is going to die and it is going to be ugly. he views love as an act of violence. not others love necessarily ( this is... a tricky statement when you take into account yu ziyuan and jiang cheng but i digress ), just the act of loving others, especially as he is passingly aware of his descent towards mildly unhinged violence. he thinks love is always going to hurt, especially given the deaths of his parents, sect, and the surrender of his golden core to his brother. despite this ! i mentioned in a previous post that i am leaning towards head-canoning wei ying as demisexual and demiromantic. as a younger man / teenager he has a very... well, romantic view of love. he likes the idea of it, loving someone and being loved in return. and he is Very Nice and people say he is flirting so then he guesses he must be flirting and starts flirting with people all the time on purpose like we see in canon. there are many times he thinks he experiences romantic or sexual attraction based on the projected image of him, the fact he has no basis for what that looks like, and the fact he is sex and romance positive/favorable. but he has only ever really loved or been attracted to lan wangji ( in canon. obvs if we ship things are different lmao ). and when he realizes what that feels like it just sort of blows everything else out of the water. this is so fucking long. all to say his views on love are complicated and contradictory. he both views it as inherently harmful and violent and as something holy and to be striven for. the primary difference throughout his lifetime/s is whether or not he thinks it is worth the hurting. and whether or not he thinks his love will hurt others and how much he is willing to risk that.

Garnet Core: What sorts of things would they be willing to do for friends? For family? For their significant other(s)?

L M A O. wei wuxian does not value himself. he does not give a shit about himself. he will sacrifice anything and everything for the people he loves. his brother loses his golden core and despite being nearly as prideful as him by his own admission he still gives it up for him. he starves so that the wen remnants can eat. he gives lan wangji an out to pretend he has no idea who he is because he knows the damage his mere association can do. wen ning and wen qing paralyze him because they know he will give up his own life before he lets them give up theirs. the people he loves mean more to him than anything in the world. he will throw away his chance at becoming one of the great cultivators, quite possibly being literally immortal, so his brother can continue. he will feel rejected, unloved, unwanted, to save the reputation of the man he loves. he has starved before, he will starve again so the people he cares about can eat. no matter how great the sacrifice is, no matter what they ask. he will lay down his entire goddamn life in an instant for the people he loves. part of it is his insatiable need for what is just and right, yeah, but a lot of it is also just the breadth of his love and the absolute absence of any for himself.

Sapphire Beacon: What kinds of things inspire your muse and does your muse tend to inspire others?

i think wei ying’s adhd brain works similarly to mine in that ideas literally appear from nothing, or the thought train that leads him there is so abstract it appears as such. i think the stygian tiger seal and spirit summoning flag were something like this. although the tiger seal may have gone something like: i wish i had a sword -> the wen’s still have my sword -> wish i had that sick ass sword from the xuanwu cave -> that shit was fucked up -> a sword wouldn’t do much good against these fucked up spirits -> i need something that control them -> i wonder if whatever the fuck that was could be altered and harnessed to control this shit. the other way he finds inspiration is in absence. he sees a gap somewhere and he needs to fill it. you can track down spirits and monsters or summon them, but there’s nothing to find them or easily alert you to their presence. thus, the compass of evil. this is probably also how he gets the original idea for demonic cultivation; there are ways to fight resentment, but why are there none to harness it? in a more artistic sense, like when he’s drawing or composing, he draws inspiration from his surroundings and emotions. as for the second part of the question,,, i don’t mean to be arrogant but i think it’s pretty safe to say he does. like not in a cutesy “you’re an inspiration” way for the most part, but he does. people stole and expanded on his inventions. there are countless demonic cultivators that mimic him and strive for his attention and approval. but in a softer way, in the specific universe of him being openly trans and gnc, i think in his fame he also inspires other trans people to exist loudly or as themselves. maybe it isn’t inspiration but he definitely allows people the comfort of knowing they aren’t alone.

#my fingers and wrist have started hurting now lol #WUXIAN / headcanons & meta.#GEN. / asks.#stvrgvzcrs

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rosethornewrites · 2 years

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Wednesday & Thursday T & G reading

The usual

Finished

Tumblr:

Syrup, by @mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess

Cultivation baby A-Yuan, by @stiltonbasket

Baby Fever 2, by @mamoonde

Cultivation baby A-Yuan 2, by @stiltonbasket

Cultivation baby A-Yuan 3, by @stiltonbasket

Teen:

Heat It Up! with Wei Ying, by justpeace

“Close your eyes,” Wei Ying says, and Lan Zhan, surprisingly obedient, does. He takes a piece of the dessert and presses it gently against Lan Zhan’s lips. He notices a gentle crease between Lan Zhan’s eyebrows, at first, before he—and again this is a surprise—opens his mouth to take the bite, lips brushing against Wei Ying’s fingertip. Wei Ying wrenches his hand away, nearly dropping the plate. It’s clearly been too long since he last slept with anyone if he’s having impure thoughts about his coworkers eating food at 3pm on a Wednesday.

Or: Lan Zhan and Wei Ying work in the NYC test kitchen for an unnamed food magazine.

There's a Lunatic in Mo Village, by BastetCG (6 chapters)

There's a lunatic in Mo Village! And to Lan Sizhui's surprise, Hanguang-Jun has decided to bring the madman back to the Cloud Recesses! How embarrassing!

A mostly canon-compliant look into Lan Sizhui's thoughts and childhood.

Practice, by WithBroomBefore

Cloud Recesses era LWJ/WWX. Featuring teen Lan Wangji’s attempt to try kissing by creating a simulacrum of himself to practice on, as one does.

you've got to find a way, say what you want to say, by Quixiote

Every month, a man comes into the post office with a letter that cannot be sent to the person they are intended for.

Or: The Saga of The Letters To The YiLing Patriarch as told by DushanYou sect Post-ivator Bai Ju

Conjunction, by DrJLecter (3 chapters)

It’s Lan Wangji’s turn to follow the long standing Lan Sect tradition to play Conjunction, the song that is supposed to show you your soulmate. If only that annoying disciple from the Jiang Sect would leave him in peace, so he can prepare properly and how the tradition demands. When the time comes, Lan Wangji is definitely not prepared for what he sees.

I will find you, by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens

Wei Wuxian is missing since three weeks.

No one noticed (- everyone plainly believed the content of the messages they got -) until Jiang Corporation and Jin Enterprises are saved from a fast approaching bankruptcy within a few hours on a Friday night.

A search ensues.

General:

Against All Reason, by Dizzyillusionist

Falling in love implies scraped knees. Lan Wangji has always prided himself on steady feet.

It’s rather upsetting, he’s finding, to be shoved.

Pink in the Night, by rusted_soda_can

lan zhan mourning the death of wei ying and then meeting him again

Unfinished

Teen:

Great, great is the city of Berlin, by Wistful_Devilless

Five years ago, after Wen Ruohan's Ponzi scheme was exposed and his family completely disgraced, Wei Wuxian stood up for the members of the Wen family who had nothing to do with the fraud and got cut off from his adoptive family, friends and the entire life he led.

Lan Wangji never forgave himself for not standing up for his best friend/crush, but Wei Wuxian was as good as dead - or at least impossible to find. With a conveniently found hint and a lot of dumb hope, he goes to Europe to look for Wei Wuxian, and hopefully be able to get his friend back.

An immortal's wrath, by M0onb0w

Baoshan Sanren has had enough. She'd watched her grandson be slandered for years upon years for things that were never his fault. Her grandson was never as bad as the cultivation world made him out to be. They just needed him to be bad so they could justify how badly they treated him.

The Passion of the Cut Sleeve, by Afriendlyenigma

Raised in a strict traditionalist family, Lan Zhan lets his uncle's many rules guide his adult life, giving structure and meaning in the places where a thick fog of loneliness threatens to choke him.

But just when he thought he had accepted his calm but empty existence, a gust of wind and a ray of sunshine comes along to clear away the mist, revealing that he had been somewhere beautiful all along, by someone more beautiful even than the exquisitely embroidered sleeve of his finest heirloom silk robe...

General:

But I’ll keep a smile on my shoulders 'til I'm sweaty, by hamlets_ghost (9th in a series)

Lan Xichen is back in his safe little bubble that is the Cloud Recesses and plans to stay there.

The cultivation world has other plans.

[Set directly after 'Hadn't gone as I planned' and 'The sky is overcast and I'm sorry']

#the untamed #untamed fanfiction #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #chen qing ling #cql

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rosethornewrites · 3 years

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Fic: a grain of millet drifting, ch. 2

Relationship: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Original Characters, Nie Huaisang

Additional Tags: Assassination Attempt(s), Introspection, Regret, Travel, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV Wei WuXian

Summary: On the road to the Unclean Realm.

Notes: 亨祥 is Hengxiang, meaning no trouble and good luck.

Chapters: 1

AO3 link

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It didn’t take long for Wei Wuxian to decide he quite liked Nie Hengxiang. The young man was intelligent and quick on his feet, and also truly interested in cultivation theory. Nie Huaisang had perhaps chosen him for more than just his skills. Had he expected Wei Wuxian to catch him? If so, he wondered if he’d disappointed his old friend in taking so long at it.

Nie Hengxiang was perhaps a little older than Sizhui, but not by much, and his earnest gruffness reminded Wei Wuxian a little of Jin Ling. In some ways he was like the ducklings he’d become so fond of, even if he’d been sent to babysit him.

As it turned out, none of the assassins had been quite stupid enough to have any identifying information on them, either about who they had been in life or who contracted them. Which meant a little more work, something he had the impression Nie Huaisang was handling on his end.

After their tea and chat, Wei Wuxian placed several arrays around their campsite, promising at the young man’s curious expression to explain them the next night.

In the morning they broke their fast with dried fruit from Wei WuXian’s qiankun pouch and dried spiced meat from Nie Hengxiang’s. After breaking camp and disabling the arrays, they searched the body again, took turns digging the grave, and heaved the corpse in with little fanfare.

After they filled in the grave, Wei Wuxian pulled out a stick of incense to light and a bit of joss paper to burn.

“Wei-gongzi, why do that for a man who tried to kill you?” Nie Hengxiang asked.

“It wasn’t personal, just his job, the poor fool. I’d rather he stay at rest, regardless. There’s enough resentment in the world already.”

About the fifth time Nie Hengxiang called him ‘Wei-gongzi’ as they made their way to a main road, he decided that had to stop.

“Aiya, I’m not a young master of anything. I’m not even part of a sect. If you have to call me something, maybe Wei-qianbei?”

The youth took to it readily, and as they walked and dealt with Little Apple having a tantrum over a rotten apple, he asked about the events at Yi City.

“I heard some of what happened, that you rescued the juniors of several sects and kept them safe through it all, but…”

But he was a curious young man, Wei Wuxian extrapolated when he trailed off. So he told the story of Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and poor little A-Qing, and how they’d eventually solved the mystery.

“Unfortunately, Xue Yang turned most of the townspeople into living and fierce corpses, so sects had to send cultivators to clean up that mess,” he said.

Then he explained the details about the old woman at the Zhizha shop who didn’t know she was dead, for whom he had threaded a needle so she could go about mending clothing she would never wear.

“I didn’t know how she would react to learning she was dead,” he said sadly. “I couldn’t risk her losing what was left of her spiritual consciousness and becoming a threat, and the juniors were already frightened enough. I hope she was laid to rest.”

Someday, perhaps, he would go back to Yi City to make sure it had been cleaned up properly, to lay offerings for the victims of Xue Yang’s indecency and help any lingering spirits pass on.

“I’ve never been on a night hunt like that,” Nie Hengxiang murmured, looking thoughtful.

“It wasn’t a normal night hunt at all,” Wei Wuxian said. “It was a man-made disaster. You’re unlikely to ever see anything like that.”

Though he hadn’t been the culprit, he still felt partly responsible for that mess, too. Had he not laid the groundwork Xue Yang had built upon at the behest of Jing Guangshan and Jin Guangyao… But that way lay madness, Wei Wuxian knew, and he shook off such thoughts.

He told some stories about the more normal night hunts he’d been on, back in the day, and some of the weird yao he’d encountered. In return, Nie Hengxiang shared some of his own encounters, discussing some of the yao found only in Qinghe.

It was different, having someone to talk to, someone who asked questions about the talismans he mentioned. Normally the road was long and quiet, missing a presence, but for the moment he could forget that absence.

Before long they came upon a larger town, one situated at the crossroads of smaller, more rural roads like the one they were on, and more-travelled ones like the one they would take to get to the Unclean Realm.

Lunch was at an inn, and when he checked his purse to be certain he had enough to cover it, Nie Hengxiang insisted the Nie sect would pick up the tab while they travelled to the Unclean Realm.

That was handy.

He ordered without regard for price, in that case, choosing a dish heavy in meat and spice, and some baozi. While they were waiting he jotted out a message for Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan,

Unexpected detour. Going to the Unclean Realm. Will write you later.

Wei Ying

Lan Zhan would know who it was from; Wei Wuxian had learned how to send the Jin butterfly and then had promptly altered it so it was a blue rabbit with wings, something that had made his zhiji smile.

After a moment of thought, he sent out a second one.

Jiang Cheng,

Nie Huaisang sent a babysitter. Caught him taking out an assassin. Guess people still want me dead. Going to the Unclean Realm. Not sure what’s going on, but will update if it involves you or Jin Ling.

Wei Wuxian

He didn’t think Jiang Cheng would particularly care, but the last several times things got sticky, it had impacted him and Jin Ling. At least this way he’d have warning.

Then, just to be an ass and because Nie Huaisang probably already knew he’d been caught, he sent out a third.

Nie-zongzhu,

Nie Hengxiang is great company. I look forward to imposing on your hospitality.

Yiling Patriarch

Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment as the messages went out, but patrons of the inn looked on in amazement at the little creatures that buzzed around over their heads briefly then floated through the inn window on their way to their destinations.

They were approached shortly into their meal, and Nie Hengxiang tensed as though the man was a threat until he started speaking about a haunting nearby—fortunately in the direction they were traveling, just off the main road.

Wei Wuxian glanced at his babysitter, who nodded without hesitation.

“We’ll head that way after we finish here,” he told the man, who fell over himself bowing and kowtowing and insisted on accompanying them.

The spirit was simply a lonely child who had died of illness, and it didn’t take much to call up her spirit and communicate. The child wanted to play, and didn’t quite realize she was dead. Once Wei Wuxian helped her understand and let her know she’d get to play in her next life, she was gone.

The man, as it turned out, was her father. He was heartbroken, but happy she’d been put to rest. He let the man babble about the girl for a bit, knowing it was a kindness to listen. She had been the only remnant he had of the wife who had died in childbirth, and had been sickly her whole short life, never able to play as the other children did—which explained why she had lingered.

As they left, he gave them a sack of fruit from his harvest. Peaches, as it turned out, juicy and sweet. He wouldn’t say no to free peaches.

First, though, Wei Wuxian took three out of the bag and handed them back to the man.

“For your daughter’s altar,” he told him.

He didn’t remember being dead, didn’t know if anyone had burned joss or incense for him, if there had been an altar where offerings of food had been left. Maybe it was because he’d left no ghost, for reasons he didn’t feel like considering; he liked to think he’d just gone without resentment, but there were darker possibilities. He didn’t want to know.

Wei Wuxian had no idea if the peaches would reach the child as her spirit found what came next, but it comforted him to think perhaps they would, and he was sure it would comfort her father.

Sometimes he wondered if that was the point of offerings for the dead.

Little Apple, as it turned out, should’ve been named Little Fruit, since she also turned out to be fond of the peaches. They were able to make good time on the road, the donkey assuaged.

The trip to the Unclean Realm passed with few incidents, though they stopped several times when asked for help with spirits and, once, a fox yao. The common folk were happy they were willing to stop, and Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment when Wei Wuxian used the name Wei Yuandao.

The last night, though, Wei Wuxian woke to the sound of someone dying, a familiar gurgling gasp, and found his companion had run through an assassin who had been trying to sneak in through the second-story window of their room at the inn. He should have expected another attempt, some last-ditch effort to get rid of him before he would be surrounded by Nie disciples and thus essentially untouchable.

Six assassins, though? Whoever wanted him dead was spending an awful lot of money on it.

“We probably could’ve questioned him,” he commented instead around a yawn.

“Not my job,” Nie Hengxiang grunted, already rifling through the poor idiot’s robes.

That told Wei Wuxian that Nie Huaisang had other disciples with that skill handling some even more unfortunate morons, which was oddly kind of him, Wei Wuxian thought. If he truly had sent his obviously assassination-trained disciple to keep him safe in secret, and had others working to find those trying to kill him, maybe this was Nie-xiong simply wanting him to be safe, not the Headshaker with his plan for vengeance.

The more he considered, the more he thought about how lonely his old friend must be—his dage dead, slain by someone he’d once regarded as a friend. Wei Wuxian knew vengeance was only just so satisfying, but it ultimately left you empty.

Killing Wen Chao hadn’t brought back Uncle Jiang or Madam Yu or the rest of the clan slaughtered at his behest. Looking back at it now, it sickened him a little to know how far gone he’d been after the Burial Mounds, taking pleasure in the torture even of someone like Wen Chao.

No wonder his behavior had worried Lan Zhan.

Nie Huaisang, who seemed innocent and indolent back when they were fifteen and the war was just a speck on the horizon, who would have happily spent his life reading spring books and painting fans…

How did he feel, now that his revenge had been achieved, after a decade of nothing but planning for it?

Wei Wuxian’s bet was on “empty,” but it was something to determine when they reached the Unclean Realm.

“You seem remarkably calm,” the young man said after tossing the looted body out the window to handle in the morning.

Hopefully some poor mediocre wouldn’t stumble upon it before then, but they’d hear them screaming if it happened.

“Honestly, it’s not the first time people have tried to kill me, or even the second,” Wei Wuxian said with a shrug. “It’s not really all that exciting after the first few times.”

Nie Hengxiang nodded as though that made sense to him, which was a little funny to Wei Wuxian—he lived it, and it still made no sense to him, true though it was.

Case in point, he blinked and it was morning, the attempted assassination not impacting his ability to get back to sleep in the least.

When he sat up, he found he was alone for the moment, so he popped his head out the window and found only dried bloodstains in the dirt. Nie Hengxiang was disposing of the body.

When he came back, his robes weren’t mussed or dirty, and Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Paid for a pauper’s burial,” Nie Hengxiang said when he noticed. “Seemed easier.”

Meaning a proper burial with the offering of incense, and offerings left for the anonymous dead would also go to assuage the assassin’s resentment. It was a kindness, and Wei Wuxian nodded his agreement with the decision.

Part of him wondered if this was what Nie Hengxiang did if he killed in or near a town, or if his own treatment of the first assassin’s grave, burning incense and joss over it, had influenced his decision. He was young yet, so perhaps it had.

Maybe it was just Wei Wuxian hoping he made a positive difference in the world this time around somehow.

Just thinking that made him feel old.

Truth be told, they were little more than a few hours outside of the Unclean Realm. They could have made it there the night before, but he hadn’t seen a need to rush and hadn’t wanted to deal with a potential ambush in the dark.

Plus Nie Huaisang wouldn’t get to pawn him off to a guest room and have eight hours to acclimate to his presence this way. He’d have to deal with Wei Wuxian for most of the day. Maybe mean, maybe petty, but they had things to talk about anyway.

Travel was uneventful, especially after he mentioned his concern about an ambush and Nie Hengxiang laughed at the idea.

“This close to the Unclean Realm? Maybe if they’re suicidally stupid.”

The way he glanced at the landscape around them, as barren as it was, made Wei Wuxian wonder if they had gained an additional escort.

And so instead Wei Wuxian rode Little Apple, kept moving forward by the enticement of a pear on a stick, bought from a stall on the way out of town, and played a few drinking songs he’d heard on his travels on Chenqing.

Time passed quickly, and soon they were approaching the gates of the Unclean Realm.

He felt a little like he’d been pulled back to the past when he saw Nie Huaisang waving from atop the battlement, just as he had when they’d set out with Chifeng-zun during the Sunshot Campaign.

This time he was headed toward, not away, and he had the tiny flicker of a golden core where there had been a gaping emptiness seething with resentment, but he felt shaken by the similarity all the same.

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